


Serendipity

by passive_impulsivity



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BadBoy!Peeta, College!Peeta, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-03 11:07:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1742558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/passive_impulsivity/pseuds/passive_impulsivity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peeta Mellark has every girl eating at the palm of his hand, however, after meeting Katniss Everdeen at one of his fights, he finally finds a girl who is immune to his charm. Then the idea strikes him, a bet. It's pretty simple, if he wins, she has to live with him in his apartment for a month, if he loses, he has to stay abstinent from sex for the same amount of time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the awesome book Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire! Enjoy!

I take another step forward, compelled by the energy of the crowd. The smell of sweat, blood and mold wafts around the large abandoned warehouse. Around me, names and numbers are called while people collide against me as they try to get a better view. An elbow hits my ribcage causing me to wince as a hand shoots up to thrust a wad of cash in the air. My best friend grabs my hand, pulling be back before another hand shoots up and hits me in the face.

"Newbies," Madge Undersee comically rolls her eyes then pulls me through the masses of college students ready to see some blood and over to her boyfriend, Gale Hawethorne.

He stands out in the crowd; tall, muscular and funnily enough has the same greyish eyes like mine. As soon as he spots us coming towards him, his strong features smooth over and his smile is radiant, even in he dim lighting.

"It's about to get even rougher, you two so stay close to me okay? Madge don't look at me like that, you've only been here a few times, stop making it look like you have a membership card," he laughs at her and she playfully sticks her tongue out.

He wraps his arm around her waist and leads her through the crowd right to the front with me tagging alone, holding onto her hand. An area is closed off by four traffic cones with rope tied through them, making a perfect square. A guy standing in the middle of the square, holds a megaphone close to his lips and the crowd quiets down.

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the Games! I am warning you, this place is not for the weak, for there will not be blood split, but spurt! My name is Thresh, I run this shit, which means, I make the rules. All betting stops once the fighters enter the ring, you can't change your bet, you can't help the fighters or touch them and god fucking forbid you even step foot in the ring. If any of the rules are broken, you shall be beaten bloodied and thrown out of here in a blink of an eye, without a fucking dime. That also includes you, ladies, don't try to use your pussies to mess with the system!"

Madge makes a noise at the back of her throat.

"What the hell Thresh!" Gale shouts, defending his girlfriend's and any other girl in here, her honour.

"Now, let's make some noise for a new fighter of the night, Mitchell Rodrigues!"

The crowd opens like the red sea, as Mitchell come jogging from a corner of the warehouse. He jumps over the rope and hops from foot to foot, throwing punches and shaking his head from side to side to hype himself up.

I begin to sweat nervously, making the loose tendrils of hair from my braid stick to my neck. My heart hammers into my chest as the crowd goes wild, chanting the fighter's name over and over again while others boo like there is no tomorrow. I look over at Madge and notice that she's in the exact same state as me, clinging onto Gale's arm, who remains at ease.

Of course, this isn't his first Game, he's been attending these matches for a year now, both him and his best friend and cousin, Peeta. Gale remains in the betting area of the Game, however, Peeta is a different story. Since he started fighting last year, Peeta has yet to lose a fight, he's been said to be the most agile and stealthiest player, despite his build and height. Along with Gale's betting, Peeta's pay for each match, they have never worked a day in their college lies.

These secretive, exclusive fights, have been running in the University of Panem for almost three years. The location, that never remains in the same, is kept in the dark until an hour before the match. Considering the fact that for the five weeks that I've been in UP, I've confined myself to the cafeteria, the library and my dorm room, I was extremely surprised when Madge and Gale invited me to the match tonight.

When the crowd's shouting died down a bit, Thresh, once again, lifted the megaphone to his lips and began shouting.

"Men lock your doors and women get on all fours for our golden fighter, our fists of steel, the one, the only... Peeta "The Rabid Mutt" Mellark!"

If before it was loud, then now it's plain chaos, as Peeta Mellark walks from the other side of the warehouse, shirtless and looking... tedious? Tribal tattoos cover the thick muscles of his arms and chest and a mop of blonde waves fall over his intensely He steps over the rope and walks up to Mitchell, then shakes his hand. Mitchell was about to let go when Peeta pulled him against him and whispered something in his ear. From Mitchell's wide eyes and Peeta's crooked smile, it wasn't something pleasant.

The fight starts as soon as Thresh steps out of the fighting area. Mitchell goes straight for Peeta's face but he easily dodged it and laughed. He then goes for another punch and again, Peeta dodges, but this time instead of laughing, his fist connects with Mitchell's face causing a stream of red to flow from his lip. Mitchell comes back full force hitting Peeta on the jaw, but his luck runs out just as quick as it came when he goes for another punch but Peeta traps Mitchell's arm between his own and uses his other hand to hit him in the face. He loses his footing after a couple of seconds of struggle with Mitchell and both men fall on to the floor, fists flying. Finally, Peeta gets the upper hand, lifting Mitchell off the floor by his shirt and knocking him out and probably breaking his nose by yet another steady flow of blood.

I groan as I look down at my no longer white UP shirt, covered in blood. This is going to be a great one to explain to Clove when she does our dry cleaning this week. I turn to look at Madge and moan about how she owes me a new shirt when I realize that during the fight, I must have been in such a trance watching Peeta and Mitchell fight that we somehow got separated. I try to move around the sweaty bodies of overly rowdy men celebrating their win or shouting about their loss but get pushed around instead. I turn in a sudden movement and what Made tried to help me avoid happens, my face collides into someone's elbow.

I bring my hands to my mouth and taste something metallic from where my teeth cut the inside of my lip. The crowd moves towards the exit of the warehouse, taking me with them full force, when five fingers dig into my arm. I'm about to scream and start to throw a couple punches myself as the steel grip drags me from the middle of the crowd.

"You okay there, Mockingjay!?" He asks over the roar of the crowd.

"Yeah, thank you for pulling me out!" I shout back.

"Your lip, it's bleeding," Peeta moves his thumb across my lips but I swat his hand away.

"Yeah and you have a gash on your face but you don't see me touching it. Thanks again for helping me"

Thresh comes out of nowhere and looks me up and down.

"Someone got a little too close for comfort," he looks at my shirt then slaps Peeta on the back. "Come on Rabid Mutt, we've got money to collect"

"I'll see you around little bird," Peeta winks at me then strides off with Thresh.

Madge pops out from the sea of people on top of Gale's shoulders and looks over the crowd until she finally spots me. She jumps down and Gales pushes everyone out of the way for her to walk towards me without being even touched by anyone.

"Where the hell have you been!?" She shouts then gasps at the blood on my shirt and looks at my lip. "What happened!?"

"The blood on my shirt is either the guy who's knocked out on the floor or Peeta's and some guy elbowed me but Madge can we go? I've had enough for one night"

"Sure," she takes my hand and Gale wraps his arm around her waist again and we move through the now thinning crowd and into the parking lot.

"But it was fun right?" Madge asks as we walk up the stairs to my dorm.

"Yeah I guess, apart from my lip and ruined shirt but hey at least I have souvenirs!"

I laugh, opening the door and she rolls her eyes.

"You two look sure are a sight for sore eyes," Clove greets us sarcastically as she carefully paints her nails, "I would ask what happened but then I remember that I don't care"

"It's called a nose bleed, bitch" Madge snaps.

"It's called a door, bitch, now get out"

"Nice to see you too, Clove," I sigh and rummage through my chest of drawers in search of some clean pyjamas.

"Katniss, Gale is waiting for me so I'm gonna go okay? I'll see you in class tomorrow"

"Okay, thanks for tonight, I did have a good time"

"Y'know, it won't kill you to have fun once in a while" She hugs me then practically skips down the stairs to Gale.

"What?" I ask when I notice Clove staring at my shirt in horror.

"I'm not touching that and we'll be doing our laundry separately from now on," she says before resuming to her task.

I shake my head, grab a towel, clothes and walk out to shower.

The next day, I sit with Madge and Gale at the cafeteria. I was hoping to sit alone outside on the grass but of course, it had to be raining. I slam my tray down onto the table a slump down onto the chair.

"I thought this place was known for its dry spells not for its floods," I moan twirling around the spaghetti before shoving a heavy helping into my mouth.

"Oh my god! Katniss had to come in and socialise with actual people! The horror!" Madge laughs stealing a meatball from my plate.

"Get your own damn food" I pull my tray further away from her and cover it with my arm, making her laugh even harder.

Looking around as the cafeteria fills up, I notice that about half of the football players and guys from Gale's fraternity that are sitting with us, where at the Game last nigh but not one has spoken a word about what happened.

"Sup Gale," a someone says behind us.

Gale nods and both me and Madge turn to see Peeta walk around the table and sit in front of us with a very visable bruise over his cheek. Two very blonde and very tanned girls follow him, one sits on his lap, the other sits beside him, rubbing his leg.

"Great, not only is the view outside awful but now so is the inside," Madge murmurs, making me laugh and choke slightly on my food.

"I heard that, bitch" blonde number one hisses then returns to kissing Peeta's neck.

"Glimmer leave," is all Peeta says.

"What?!" she spits furiously.

"You insulted my friend Madge, now take yours and leave" Glimmer, the one sitting on his lap, stands, smacking her hands on the table and her copy follows suit.

Peeta, as if nothing happened and no one is staring at him, picks up some fries and stuffs them in his mouth. I look at Madge with my eyebrows raised and she shrugs. She turns and starts speaking to Gale about plans for the weekend and I go back to concentrating on my food and trying to remember what the chemical reactions in photosynthesis are for my biology class. I cannot help but feel Peeta's gaze bore into the top of my head but as much as I try not to, my eyes flash up and he carries on looking at me, not the slightest bit embarrassed that I caught him staring.

"She's Madge's best friend Peeta, she was with us last night," Gale reminds him.

"I don't think I would forget such a pretty face"

"She's never actually hung around with me and Gale, she's usually in hiding at the library or her dorm, which I have no idea why since the library makes her have sneezing fits from the dust and she has a bitch for a roommate"

I roll my eyes at Madge's comment and finish off my spaghetti with one last forkful. Peeta's piercing blues eyes never leave my face the whole time, making me uncomfortable.

"You know I should be hurt, you ruined my shirt with your blood and you don't even remember," I mutter nonchalantly.

"I ruin a lot of shirts with my bodily fluids," he smirks, popping another fry in his mouth.

"I think I just puked a little in my mouth"

He laughs at my comment but returns to stare at me.

"Hello again my little Mockingjay," he murmurs seductively.

"I don't belong to you in anyway so don't use possessive pronouns, stop using a diminutive nouns, I'm average size and as far as I remember Mockingjay isn't my name," I say, anger reaching the edges of my voice.

"Then what is your name?"

I open up my fruit salad cup and stab at the strawberries, my favourite fruit then pop them in my mouth.

"Fine, Mockingjay it is."

I turn to Madge and see that she's trying to contain a smile by biting her lip, in return I throw her a scowl.

"Are we still going out tonight for dinner?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"Oh god, I forgot! I already promised Gale that we'd stay together tonight," Madge says apologetically making me shake my head and roll my eyes.

"My name is Peeta Mellark"

"I know," I snort, eating the grapes next.

"Oh you do?" He flashes me a crooked smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Kinda hard to forget when your nearly deafened by the sound of it"

"That's happens to me but usually I have a woman's legs wrapped around me"

"Okay now I definitely puked in my mouth," I murmur.

"What colour are your eyes? Grey? Green? Blue? They are the most beautiful mix of colours I've ever seen"

Dammit. He doesn't miss a beat!

I let my thick brown hair fall around my face, creating a curtain between me and him. I didn't like they way his intense blue eyed gaze made me feel, or they way it me blush. I'm not like those girls he screws over and I will not be freaking treated like one.

"Nope, nuhuh," Madge clicks her tongue in disapproval and we all turn to look at her. "Keep away from her Peeta, she's off limits. I'll even soak her in holy water if it that keeps your damn dick away from her!"

"Babe, you just basically painted a bullseye on Katniss," Gale exasperates while Peeta laughs. "Now that you told him he can't have her, he won't stop"

"Well, he's not her type anyway"

"Uh, I'm everyone's type!" Peeta gasps, pretending to be hurt. "Anyway, it's been great to see you again Mockingjay, Madgie, Gale"

He pushes himself from the table and walks off, lifting a cigarette to his lips. He stops at the door and walks back to our table. Peeta leans over and whispers something in Madge's ear, making her giggle.

"Peet, get your herpes ridden ass away from my girl!" Gale shouts throwing some fries in his direction.

"Woah bro, chill man, chill," Peeta laughs, backing away with his hands held up in surrender.

"Oh boy," Madge's chuckled after Peeta leaves, "you're in trouble"

"Me? What did I do?" I ask her tipping the fruit cup and drinking the juice at the bottom.

"You have been requested to show at Mellark's lair"

"Great joke"

"I'm serious, he said when I come over tonight, to bring you with me"

"Great," Gale huffs, "Katniss, I like you a lot, so please take my warning, do not go. You're a smart girl, you know how Peet is by what little you've seen of him. It's not worth it plus I don't want me and Madge to be picking side when you end up broken hearted because I really like her and I don't-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there because, I was never planning on going and because I have no intention what so ever to do anything with Peeta other than talk and maybe not even that," I cut in, making sure he knows where I stand.

"Really?" Gale lifts his eyebrow in doubt.

"Really, and Madge is right, Peeta isn't my type" I smile at him, trying to calm his nerves.

"When you getworried-" she puts a finger between his eyebrows, -"you get a tiny V right here. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen"

He smiles at her like she is his world the kisses her softly on the lips. I take that as my cue to leave.

"I gotta go to class," I mutter trying not to ruin their moment and run to class, trying to avoid getting wet as much as possible.

Darker grey spots form on my grey sweater but other than that, I make it to class more or less dry. I find my seat, smack in the middle of the classroom and pull out my laptop, ready to start typing away as soon as the professor comes in. I'm absent mindlessly tracing the keys on my laptop when someone sits next to me, making me jump slightly.

"You're coming tonight right?" Peeta smirks running a hand through his messy dark blonde hair, obviously trying to seduce me. However, the only thing I do is scowl.

"Why are you here?"

"The same thing as you"

"Your not even in this class"

"On the contrary, Mockingjay, I am, it's just I sit all the way in the back," he says using his thumb to point behind his back.

If looks could kill, I would be a one hundred year old corpse with the death glares that the group of girl gathered in the back of the classroom are throwing me.

"I'm not going," I shrug and open up a new document on my computer.

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't want to" He leans in so close that I can feel his breathing against my face. "What did I do for you to despise me so much?"

After a moment of scowling, I sigh and my shoulders deflate.

"Nothing"

"Good then you'll be coming tonight," he smiles crookedly and leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

"I'm not going to have sex with you," I mutter as professor Coin walks in and the class quiets down.

"I'm not expecting you to"

"I only want to be your friend, so no funny business, got it?" I whisper making sure I put a lot of emphasis on the word friend.

"Okay then, Mockingjay," he winks at me then turns his attention to the front of the classroom.

I roll my eyes but the twitch at the corners of my mouth betray me. During the length of class, Peeta kept switching his attention from my laptop screen to Coin then back to my screen. As much as Coin's lecture is interesting, I can't concentrate on a word she says. Not when I can feel the warmth of Peeta's body radiating from him, or when I can see, from the corner of my eye, how his biceps nearly rip the thin material of his t-shirt. I was about to tell him to quit making so much noise by tapping on the desk, when Coin dismissed us. I slammed my laptop shut, stuffed it in my bag and raced outside in wrap speed and when I almost convinced he lost my trail, Peeta strides right along side me. He's about to say something when a tall, busty brunette walks by, biting her lip and looking lustfully at Peeta.

"I'll see you at my place tonight, Mockingjay," he says while checking out the girl then turning around and walking after her.

I watch the two and shake my head in disgust. Peeta says something and she laughs like she's high on laughing gas and runs a hand down his chest. He covers her hand with his and then leans in and whispers something and she blushes then nods and he walks off, leaving her giggling and blushing. I sigh. Poor girl.

Sighing, and feeling a tiny bit of pity for that poor deluded girl, I turn a corner on my way to my dorm. Madge and my biology study partner turned friend, Johanna, a standing near the doors to the dormitory, waiting for me. Madge and Jo are what you'd call polar opposite, where Madge is open and sweet, Johanna is secretive and sarcastic. Madge's straight, long blonde hair contrasts with Johanna's brown layered bob but despite their obvious differences, they get along like two peas in a pod.

"If I would've know you were so desperate for dick, I would've set you up with someone, no need to go after Peeta Mellark," Johanna jokes with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Y'know, your just making it worse, like Gale says what Peeta can't have, he wants," Madge says honestly, rearranging the books in her arms.

"So basically your telling me to sleep with him?"

"It would definitely save you the headache," she shrugs then laughs.

"Well then, I guess I'm halfway there since I basically agreed to going to his place tonight with you"

Madge and Johanna exchange looks of pure shock.

"Your actually gonna go?" Johanna asks slowly.

"We agreed that I wasn't there for sex and that he would stop flirting so, just friends," I reply with a smile, walking past them and up to my dorm room.

I drop my bag on my desk chair and flop in the bed. There are two ways tonight could go. Either Peeta finds me appealing and goes back on his word and flirts with me, or he finds me boring and treats me like a friend and a friend only. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure which option I felt most comfortable with.

A few hours later, Madge comes knocking on my door, ready to take me to Gale and Peeta's place.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Madge looks at me wide eyed and gaping.

"My favourite, comfortable clothes!" I grin down at my outfit.

I've thrown on my Philly Flyers hockey jersey, some black leggings and my oldest pair of chucks. My hair is in a messy braid and I've taken out my contacts and put on my big square, black leopard glasses on.

"Go change Katniss, I'll wait for you," Madge says trying to walk into my dorm.

I slam my hand on the door frame blocking her entrance.

"Nope, I'm going like this, I'm not trying to impress anyone so let's go"

I pull the door shut behind and walk down the hall of the dorms.

"And she said she wasn't trying to impress anyone," Madge mutters behind me.

I choose to ignore it.

It's a flawless plan. If I show up to his place, looking like a slob and just 'one of the guys', Peeta will lose interest in me and if he really just wants to be friends then perfect, job done.

"Your little scheme isn't going to work," Madge exhales as we walk towards Gale's apartment, "he's gonna see right through it and then you can bet your ass that he will chase you even more"

I shrug and follow her up the stairs.

"We'll see"

Before Madge can even begin to knock, Gale swings the door open and steps out to take her into a huge bear hug and kiss her lips. He picks her up the takes her straight to his room, leaving me stunned and awkward outside the door. I step inside the apartment and sit on the nearest recliner, playing with the tip of my braid.

"About time you showed up," Peeta says, sitting in front on the sofa opposite me.

"Yeah, I tried to start my history paper that Coin gave us but I just couldn't bring myself to type anymore after the second paragraph"

"I can help you"

"Yeah, okay," I snort.

"What? Just because I'm covered in tattoos and fight for money doesn't mean I can't get A's in nearly all my classes?" He smirks, lifting an eyebrow.

"Your kidding," I laugh not believe a single word from his mouth.

"It's actually true, this bastard is pretty smart, which pisses me off so much since I'm thick as fucking bricks," Gale groans when him and Madge come out of his room.

"See? So, do you want my help or not?"

"It's fine, thanks for your generous offer but I'll do it by myself," I cross my legs and notice that he hasn't reacted to my appearance, he just seems pretty comfortable. "But if your such a genius, then why didn't you get a scholarship?"

"I did, but not a full one. Plus I have books, food and rent to pay so I fight"

"Couldn't you find some other way to earn money? Something less violent?"

"Easy pay," he says with a shrug. "Getting beaten up doesn't sound very easy," I laugh, shifting position on the recliner.

"It's pretty simple, they punch you dodge. You study their moves then find their weakness and you attack"

"Maybe I should start fighting, it sounds so easy"

"They'd have to go through me first," he says, his face completely serious then he finally looks at my outfit and smiles. "I like what your wearing, even if the Flyers are a shitty team, most girls don't come here like that"

"The Flyers are were family team so shut up and also, I'm not trying to impress you or make you like my outfit. I feel comfortable in this so I'm wearing it to a friends house" I shrug and tug on my jersey, trying to cover up my legs as much as possible, when my stomach makes a feral growl. My cheeks burn red and Peeta laughs, standing up and offering his hand.

"Come on let's eat"

"I'm not dressed to eat out..."

I look down at my clothes now embarrassed.

"You look fine," he says still with his hand extended towards me.

I stand up by myself and look at Madge and Gale who are tangled in an embrace.

"You guys coming?"

"Um, actually we were going to spend some time together alone but if you want me to come...?" Just by the way she said that, I know it's the last thing she wants.

"No, no it's fine, I'll-"

Before I can finish my sentence, Peeta grabs my hand unexpectedly and drags out of the apartment and down to the parking lot. He stops near a shiny black motorcycle and smiles broadly at me.

"Isn't she a beauty? Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout"

"Um, that's nice but can we use Gale's truck or something? I'm not too comfortable with motorcycles," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest.

"No way," he says, throwing one leg over the huge vehicle then looks at me and smirks. "Even though that pout is damn cute, stop being such a girl, I'll go slow okay?"

I punch his arm, scowling then sit behind him, clutching the sides of the seat like a life line. Peeta holds my wrists and brings them to his chest, making me feel his heartbeat and a deep rumble as he chuckles when I try to pull away.

"It's better if you hold onto me, Mockingjay!" He shouts over the roar of the engine and speeds off.

The whole ride I remain with my eyes clenched shut and squeal every time he makes a sharp turn or zig zags between cars to avoid traffic. When we arrive at the place Peeta is taking me to eat, I almost throw myself of the bike and kiss the floor. I hold onto a streetlight and wait for my legs to no longer feel like rubber, all the while, Peeta laughs, wiping tears from his eyes.

"It's not funny!" I shout, shoving his chest when he comes near me. "You jerk! You said you'd go slow!"

"I'm sorry... But... You face! It's priceless! You look like you've seen a ghost!" He says in between fits of laughter, making me even more pissed off.

"No, not a ghost, my damn death!" I growl before storming off into a diner called Greasy Sae's.

"I'm sorry, Mockingjay, I didn't mean for you to get scared or angry, I won't do it again" Peeta tries to put his hand over my shaky ones, however my scowl makes him change his mind.

We give our order to the waitress, who in my opinion needs to stop batting her eyelashes so much, and stay silent. My mood going from bad to worse, until Peeta clears his throat and looks at me with those sky blue eyes.

"So you're from Philadelphia?" Peeta eyes still trained on my face.

"Yeah how'd you know?"

"You said the Flyers were a family team so I guessed. What made you come all the way here?"

I shrug.

"Why do you hate me?"

My head snaps up and I see genuine hurt in his eyes.

"I-I don't hate you?"

"But you don't exactly like me," he chuckles sadly.

"I don't like being treated like an object just because I have a... Y'know," I whisper, feeling my ears catching fire.

"Know what?" he whispers back.

"A-a you know what Peeta!" He furrows his brows and looks at me quizzically.

"Urgh! A v-vagina..." I growl through my teeth, keeping my eyes on the table, knowing my face is the same bright red.

When I look at Peeta, he makes a weird noise at the back of his throat, then he hauls with laughter, banging his fist on the table.

"Okay... We are... Officially friends... I don't care what you say, little bird" He says in between fits of laughter.

"Good, my plan worked then," I smile, playing with the salt on the table. "I came here for a fresh start. What about you?"

"I actually live an hour or so from here. My dad would chop my balls off before ever letting me move away any further," her mumbles as our food is set on the table.

This time I laugh.

"And she laughs!" Peeta gasps, making me laugh harder. "On the contrary to what you may believe, I still listen to my dad and respect him"

"Oh, he has a heart!" I imitate him by gasping.

"Ha, ha. Do you listen to your parents or are you a rebel at heart?" He asks taking a bite of his bacon burger.

"My dad died and my mum left me but does listening to my uncle and my younger sister count?" I joke, trying to push away the lump that still forms in my throat with the thought of them.

"I'm-" he tries to apologise but I shrug it off.

"He died when I was ten, I'm okay," I lie.

"My mum died when I was five," he says, drinking his beer. "Anyway, I have four brothers, Posy, Vick, Liam and Brendan."

"So that's where you learnt how to fight..." I joke tapping my chin.

"That and-" Peeta explanation got blocked when a bunch of guys at the back of the diner, all of them from the football team, burst out laughing. Peeta clenches his jaw and fists, as he narrows his eyes at them.

"What?" I ask, blushing, yet again.

"Don't worry, they aren't laughing at you, they're laughing at me"

"Why?" I stuff some fries in my mouth before my stomach eats itself.

"This is my first time taking a girl out"

"What!" I choke on my fries.

However, coming to think of it, I've never seen Peeta with any girl other than at college. Maybe this actually is his first time taking a girl out.

"But you're not-"

The team laughs louder and someone wolf whistles, my blush only deepens.

"One second," he says before standing up.

The noise of chairs scraping the floor fills the diner as the football team push each other and hurry to get away before Peeta can lay his hands on them. Peeta mutters something under his breathe then sits back down and smiles at me.

"So, you were saying?"

"Um, your not taking a girl out. You're eating with a friend, two different things"

"I get it, your not going to sleep with me!" he laughs before taking another healthy bite of his burger.

"Nope, never"

"Never say never," he smirks.

"Let's agree to disagree okay?" I roll my eyes, to hide how much I'm not bothered by what he said.


	2. Chapter 2

I curse the heat and wish back the rain as more and more people walk into the cafeteria at lunch. As the only place in campus with working air conditioning, the tiny cafeteria is cramped with students trying to escape the heat, intensifying the smell of oil, sweat and bleach, a truly terrible combination. Wedged between Johanna and Madge, I can feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead from the temperature and also from my anxiety. I look down at my chemistry text book, I've been reading the highlighted bits for almost an hour but nothing seems to stick in my head. My frustration hits it's peak and I slam the text book shut and throw it in my bag.

"Don't worry Katniss, chemistry is a bitch for everyone," Thom, one of the guys from the Delta Tau fraternity, in which Gale is in, sits in front of me and smiles kindly. "Hey Gale, what happened man? You were supposed to come celebrate with us after the game last weekend"

"I had to take out my princess to be wined and dined, we had our own celebration later on though, in my bedroom, so don't worry," Gale laughs winking at Madge who blushes and playfully slaps his arm.

Thom scrunches up his nose and shakes his head in disapproval.

"Uatchhh," he imitates the sound and movement of a whip, making us all laugh.

"You're sitting in my place, Thom," Peeta says, cutting our laughter short.

A confused Thom looks at Peeta, then back at me.

"Oh, she your girl, Peet?"

"Oh god no," I scoff, unwrapping my chicken salad sub.

He looks back at Peeta who is staring at him and waiting for him to move, he shrugs and sits on he chair next to the one he was at before. Peeta sits on 'his place', smiling at me.

"What's up, Mockingjay"

"Uh, nothing," I mutter, keeping my eyes locked onto my hands, as I feel the curious eyes of everyone around me. It's not unusual for Peeta to sit next to a girl, what's unusual is for Peeta to insist sitting next to a girl he isn't having sex with.

"Nothing?" Madge snorts, "if nothing means the chemistry test you're nearly having a stroke over then yeah, nothing"

"Yeah but you studied-"

"I wish! I was too busy convincing Gale that you weren't going to let Peeta get into your pants!"

Even the football team have stopped with their stupidity to listen to our conversation.

Peeta face palms, looking at Gale.

"You do know that's not what your supposed to do when your alone with your girlfriend right?"

"It just hard to believe, Peet, that a girl is immune to your flirting," Gale teases making Peeta furrow his eyebrows.

"I wasn't trying to flirt with her, she's my friend"

Gale's jaw drops, along with ninety percent of the eavesdroppers, and he looks at me wide eyed.

"Told ya," I ball up the packaging of my sub and open my juice bottle, taking a sip.

"Let's go," Peeta stands and walks around the table then holds his hand out.

"What?" I say looking up at him in confusion.

"I'm gonna help you study"

"Peeta-"

"Mockingjay, get that ass of that chair and let's go study," he pushes out his hand even further, losing his patience.

I look at Madge then at Jo who winks at me.

Eyes burn holes through the back of my head as I walk out with Peeta to my dorm.

Nearly an hour later, I'm laying down on my bed with Peeta sitting on my desk chair. He reads through my notes and looks at my text books then at once he knows what I was studying. At first I get nearly every question he asks me wrong, but after a whole, I start getting the hang of it and now I can answer all the question correctly without batting an eyelash.

"And done!" He smiles at me, setting my book down on my desk.

"What? That's it?"

He picks up one of my pillows and throws it at me.

"See, chemistry isn't all it's made to be when a genius helps you"

A laugh escapes my lips while I gather my books and stuff them in my backpack.

"Yeah but this will all be useless if I get there and I can't do the test because I'm late"

"I'll walk with you. But next time we should start earlier, Mockingjay, so you actually know what your talking about and not just repeat what you crammed into your head," he says, tugging on a lock of my hair as he walks by.

"You gonna help me, study for your own tests, train for fights and chase after girls? I think even that's too much for the almighty Peeta "The Rabid Mutt" Mellark," I make an air quote with my fingers.

"I don't train for fights, Thresh texts me a couple hours before the fight and I go. Oh, and I don't chase after girls, they are just naturally attracted to me, like magnets," he winks, making me laugh and roll my eyes.

"How did you get the name "Wild Mutt"?" I ask as we reach my classroom. He leans against the door frame and smiles sheepishly.

"Dunno, after my first match, Thresh called me a rabid mutt and then the name stuck," he says with a shrug.

"But rabid?" I laugh, imagining Peeta drooling and barking at everyone.

"Shut up," he laughs too.

"Hi Katniss, sup Peeta"

"Darius," Peeta greets him with a nod of his head.

"Hey," I smile shyly at my classmate.

He smiles back, drawing attention to the freckles that decorate his face. Darius is tall and lean, with red hair and a dazzling smile. I would be lying if I said I didn't find him extremely attractive.

"You ready for chemistry?" He asks politely, making me blush furiously.

"Y-yeah, Peeta helped me, so I think I'm okay?"

I mentally face palm myself for being such a girl.

"I think you'll do better than okay, you'll do great," he says, squeezing my shoulder before walking off to greet a group of guys.

"How do you know Darius?" I say through my teeth, pulling Peeta away from the door where no one can see us talk.

"He's in my fraternity"

My hand slaps my mouth as a giggle escapes my mouth and my eyes nearly pop at out my head.

"You're in a fraternity!" I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from howling with laughter.

"Yeah, I thought you knew. Delta Tau, same as Gale. What's so funny?" He raises his eyebrow in question.

"It's just, I dunno, I never thought of you as a 'frat guy', considering your whole reputation and stuff," I look at the tattoos that curl around his right arm and stop just at his wrist.

"I see what you're doing Mockingjay"

"What?"

"Stalling. Now take that butt inside class and kill that test"

"Stop talking about my butt, perv," I playfully push his muscular chest and turn to walk off but stop. I turn to him and smile. "Thank you"

"Anytime, Mockingjay"

Madge arrives a couple seconds before professor Aurelius enters the class room.

"How was it?" She asks excitedly.

"Great, Peeta explains everything so well, chemistry is finally conquered"

"That's it?"

"Uh? What else would there be?"

"Nothing," Madge moans and goes to sit down.

Since she started dating Gale, Madge has always had this dream, that Peeta and I would get to together and we would all go on double dates, watch movies together, the whole works. As time went by and I showed no interest in dating and neither did Peeta, both in different ways, she gave up. Now, that me and him are beginning to build a friendship, the tiny spark of hope has ignited.

The test is ridiculously easy. Every single thing that me and Peeta went over, was included. I leave the class with a smile and go to sit down on the steps of the science building.

"What the fuck was that?" Madge exasperates, slumping down next to me. "And you! You could've helped me, a sign, a blink, something!"

"Sorry Madge, I was so into it that I forgot," I say, hugging her tight then linking arms and walking to the cafeteria.

For the whole week I grow uneasy with every day that gets closer to when my results would be posted. On the day that Professor Aurelius puts our results on the chemistry message board, Peeta comes to my dorm, knocking like a mad man. I barely get a chance to change before he's dragging me through campus to see the message board.

"Oh my god," I gasp, looking at Peeta, who grins with pride in his eyes.

"You got the second highest score in the class Mockingjay!"

"Thank you, Peet, I could've done anyone of this without-"

I'm cut off when Peeta throws me over his shoulder, making me squeal in surprise.

"Make way peasants! The female Albert Einstein is coming through!"

The curious and funny looks my classmates give us as Peeta walks around campus shouting about my huge brain should embarrass me, annoy me even due to my incredibly quiet personality but this time, I didn't mind, in fact, I like it.

As the days go by, me and Peeta have to deal with relationship rumours more and more. Sure, his reputation and constant entourage of women help some, but like everyone keeps telling me, Peeta being friendly with a woman isn't natural. However, when they begin to see me and him together, they finally understand that the whole relationship is purely platonic. Peeta comes over to my dorm and helps me study, he continues sitting next to me in biology class and in front of me at lunch.

"How'd you know I was gonna get that?" I ask as Peeta places a fruit salad in front of me as he sits down.

"Mockingjay, please, every single time this place serves fruit salad, you're the first one there," he replies with a smirk.

"Jesus fucking Christ! I never thought I'd see you whipped, Peet, without sex!" Thom scoffs, nudging one of his teammates from the football team, who laughs along with him.

With just one hate filled look, Peeta shuts them both up, but my instinct over takes me and before I can stop myself, I defend Peeta.

"Hey Thom, shut the hell up. No asked for your useless opinion," I snap, stabbing the fork into my strawberry.

"I was kidding, Katniss! Geez," he says, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Whatever"

Peeta exhales, then shakes his head.

"I can now die in peace, a girl has finally defended me," he chuckles, winks at me then walks out of the cafeteria, cigarette ready to be lightened.

My eyes follow him as he walks towards a group of people smoking and laughs at something they say. Out of the blue, five girls surround him, all fighting for his attention. They discreetly place their hands on his chest, arm, shoulder and even stroke his face.

"It's awful right?" Madge asks, looking at Peeta with the same sad expression as I am. "They all throw themselves at him all the time and he just stands there, taking it in. I mean, does he ever even get tired of that?"

"Uhuh," Gale nods, bringing our attention to him. "People always think he's some sort of dick and plays with all these girls but you don't know what they do. They think they will be the one who changes him or keeps him in line, but of course, that's never happened"

When I leave the cafeteria, Peeta is finishing off his cigarette.

"Mockingjay! I'll walk with you to class!" He catching up with me as I speed walk to class.

"I do know the way Peet"

A tall redhead sways past, winking at Peeta and touches his arm.

"Okay then cool, I'll see you around Mockingjay"

I look back and see Peeta charming the girl, just like the brunette the other day, making her giggle and blush. Rolling my eyes at them both, I continue on my way to class.

Peeta didn't make it to class, which made it a whole lot easier to concentrate on Coin but at the same time it annoyed me slightly that he would miss class for some girl. By some god given miracle, Coin lets us out early, so I run out of class to meet Johanna who was already waiting for me at the steps of the building.

"Hey Katniss!"

I look for the person who shouted my name and see Darius jogging towards me.

"D-Darius," I nod at him, making my hair fall over my face to hide my already forming blush.

"I told you so," he says with a wink.

"What?"

He laughs, adding to his boyish charm.

"I told you, you'd do great, second highest score!"He grins, looking deep into my eyes.

"Oh, I wouldn't have been able to without Peeta"

"So it's true about you two being-"

"Friends"

Somehow, his grin gets even wider, showing all of his perfect white teeth.

"Then does that mean you can meet me at the party this weekend?"

"What party?"

"I'm guessing Peeta didn't say anything," he laughs, "The guys at our frat are throwing a party, you should come"

"I dunno"

"Gale and Madge are most likely going so you won't be totally alone?"

"Okay, I'll ask her then," I smile.

"Great, I hope to see you there Kat," he says kissing my cheek, "Bye girls"

As he walks off across campus, I watch him, his hair is brighter under the sun and his muscles ripple under his white polo shirt. I bite my lip and touch my face to check if it's on fire or not.

"Well he certainly has my stamp of approval," snickers, elbowing my arm then smacks her lips. "Damn look at that ass!"

"Jo!" I shout horrified by what she just shouted in public. "He could've heard you!"

"So? He would've loved it. Plus you didn't deny it so you agree," she winks then laughs. "It's a good thing there's no hot water in the girls dorm rooms 'cause you'll be needing cold shower after what speaking to him did to you"

"Are you kidding me?" I groan, throwing my head back.

"Nope, the water heater's busted, now let's go get that damn coffee before all the hipsters infest the place"

After an afternoon of laughing until my cheeks hurt with Johanna, I trudge up to my room and throw myself on my bed.

"The water heater isn't working," Clove says from the otherwise of her laptop screen.

"So I've been told"

My door flies open and Madge stomps inside then sits beside me, frowning.

"We pay rent every damn month and this is what we get?" She moans, throwing one of my pillows on the floor.

"Number one, this isn't your dorm so you knock," Clove growls, slamming her laptop closed. "Number two, you have a boyfriend. Go leech off him"

"These are the times where I love you Clove," Madge says, taking out her phone and speed texting, to receive a reply seconds later. "Go pack Katniss, he said we can stay"

"We? I'm not going"

"Yes you are, why would you suffer when Gale and Peeta have two showers? I'm not taking no for an answer. I'll be back in fifteen"

Madge skips out of the room, slamming the door behind her, making Clove call her all the names in the book.

"Clove, don't," I say as I pull out a small suitcase and stuff my essentials in it.

"I just don't understand how you can put up with her. And try not to come back with some STD"

"I'm not going to sleep with him"

"Sure, okay"

"He hasn't ever tried anything with me and we've been together almost every night"

"What!" Clove at me with pure shock.

"We're just friends," I say trying to defend myself.

Clove mouths "wow" and walks out of our dorm.

Half an hour later of nearly dying in the hands of Madge's psychotic driving, we arrive at Gale's parking lot. I'm about to pull my suitcase out of the car when Gale come bounding down the stairs. He embraces Madge in a tight hug then kisses her forehead.

"Is it a bad thing that I'm glad your showers broke?" He smiles down at her.

"Nope," she taps his nose with her finger then kisses it.

"You girls go up, the door's unlocked," he says smiling at me and pulling our bags out of the car. "Jesus! How much stuff did you put in this baby?"

Madge rolls her eyes and links her arms through mine. Halfway up the stairs, I stop and look at her.

"Where am I going to sleep?"

"The sofa, if Peeta isn't using it. Or his bed," she winks, pulling me to carry on walking.

We stand paralysed at the entrance to the apartment. The redhead I saw earlier comes out of the bathroom, doing up the buttons on her jeans, followed by Peeta, who's doing the same. When she sees us, she stops and smiles with red lipstick smeared all over her face, like she's accomplished something.

"Oh, hey" she says to us.

"Time to leave, my friends arrived," he says smacking her butt. She kisses him, biting his lip.

"I'm gonna leave my number so you can call me," the girl gets out her phone but Peeta puts a hand on it and shoves it back in her pocket.

"No thanks, it's okay"

"Excuse me?" The girl couldn't have looked more like a abandoned puppy even if she tried.

"Oh puh-lease! You can't actually be surprised? It's like this every damn time!" Madge tries to carry on but Gale puts a hand on her arm and she scowls, looking at the girl, who's looking at Peeta but he only shrugs.

"I had a great time Lily!" He shouts as she storms out of the apartment.

"It's Lavinia, jackass!" She screams before slamming the door shut.

Gale whistles, looking at Peeta then walks into his room, followed by Madge. Peeta chuckles and fills up a glass of water. Taking a deep breathe, I throw myself on the sofa, when I agreed to come here, I didn't know it was going to be a pit stop for clueless sluts.

"What up Mockingjay? You look down," Peeta says sitting next to me.

"Just shocked"

"Why?" He smirks, knowing what I'm about to say.

"You just humiliated that girl!"

"No I didn't, it would be humiliating if I accepted her number then didn't call her and ignored her when she came after me every time she saw me"

"So you just have sex with girls and kick them out of the apartment?"

"They know what I do, everyone does. I don't promise anything other than that and they still come. She knew it was coming so," he shrugs.

I roll my eyes and refuse to look at him.

"I didn't do anything wrong, Mockingjay, she opened her legs on this sofa because she wanted to"

I jump up like I've been electrocuted, and look at him with disgust.

"Oh my god! Ew!" I shout, feeling violated. "You're a such jerk"

"I've heard worse, Mockingjay," he finishes with a shrug.

I keep looking at the sofa, noticing every stain, every dent and rip. I shudder when images of hundred of woman laying naked on top of it.

"Yeah, I'm going to sleep on the recliner," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest and scowling.

"Why?"

My scowl turns to him.

"Are you kidding me? I don't even what to know how many diseases are crawling-"

He picks up my suitcase and rolls it into his room.

"Peeta, what the hell!"

"You're not sleeping in the sofa or the recliner. You're sleeping in my room"

"Even worse!" I grab the handle of my suitcase and try to pull it out of his hand. Of course, it's no use.

"I've never slept with anyone on my bed"

"Then why are you letting me sleep there?"

"Do you plan on having sex with me tonight?" he asks with a sinister smile.

"I'd rather sleep on the sofa"

"Exactly"

He pushes the door open and steps into his bedroom. It's everything I didn't expect it to be. His bedroom has no clutter, no road signs, posters of half naked women or trash littering the floor. There's a king size bed pushed against the wall facing a window, covered in white linens, with a bedside table on both sides and a painting of a city skyline is hanging above the bed. A MacBook is placed on top of a shiny wooden desk complete with a black office chair and a black mat is placed on the foot of the bed. The only things indicating that Peeta is the true owner of this bedroom are the picture frames on his desk and bedside tables.  
"Not what you expected?"

He cheekily grins at me and I roll my eyes.

"Where's the-"

He opens a door in his bedroom, showing me the bathroom. I grab my toiletries and storm inside.

I let the hot water run over my body for a while, relishing in the feeling of a private bathroom. Then I massage the shampoo into my hair, taking extra time in washing it out. I'm so relaxed that before I realise it, I've begun singing.

I had my hopes out on the line, oo-oo

Well they'll be ready for you in time.

If you leave them out too long, oo-oo

They'll be withered by the sun.

My singing is halted when I hear someone opening the door.

"Madge?"

"Try again, Mokingjay"

"Peeta!" I scream, trying to cover my body as much as possible. "Get out!"

"I just came in to drop some clothes and a towel that you forgot"

Even though I can't see him, I know his smirk is bigger than ever.

"You could've left them by the door! Get! Out!" My voice turns into a high pitch screeching sound.

"I need to brush my teeth," he says, opening the tap.

I pop my head around the shower curtain, my scowl firmly in place.

"Please Peeta, you're making me uncomfortable. Get out."

"Now that I've started, I can't stop, Mockingjay, one of the great things about me"

He winks at me and carries on brushing.

"If you dare try anything Peeta, I will cut your precious jewels off in your sleep!"

"Calm down, I promise there will be no funny business," he chuckles.

I slide down the wall of the shower and curl up in a ball, waiting for him to leave and the the water hit my back. When Peeta finishes brushing his teeth, my shower is no longer relaxing, just plain awkward. I wash myself quicker than I ever have, nearly slipping and breaking something, and get dressed even quicker. As I pull on the t-shirt Peeta brought me, my anti-depressants fall on the floor along with my glasses. It's like I can feel my heart freeze in place and the cold feeling spread across my body. I pick them up and place them on the sink. My heartbeat continues it's regular rhythm after a few deep breathes and I carry on my bedtime routine as usual.

When I come out of the bathroom, Peeta is typing away on his MacBook, I look at him and wait for the questioning but it never comes.

"I like the smell of your shampoo," is all he says, then shuts the laptop around and smiles at me, "Are you ready to study?"

"If say no, can we skip it?" I sigh, thanking heavens that he isn't nosey.

He laughs and taps the space next to him, my text book is already on his lap, opened on the page we finished on last time.

"Can you grab a pen for me Mockingjay, it's in that draw next to you"

Leaning over, I pull open the drawer and search for the pen. However, not so surprisingly, I find a bowl full of different kinds of condoms. Spotting the pen, I quickly grab it and slam the drawer shut as if it would lash out and bite me.

"Why do you look so pale?"

"How many condoms do you need!?" I want to move away from the drawer but if I do, I'll be closer to Peeta and that would be even more uncomfortable.

"You never know when its going to happen, so I'm always prepared," he chuckles, makind me shudder.

"Can we just get studying over with? I'm exhausted"

After an hour of note taking, listening to Peeta's explanations and memorizing every small detail that he says is important, my eyes sting and my head hurts. I slam the text book shut and throw it on the floor. Peeta looks at me with raised eyebrow and I groan.

"No more. Im about to pass out and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need stronger glasses from the amount of reading I've done,' I moan, removing my glasses and brading my hair.

"Okay then, we'll carry on tomorrow night," he says, pushing himself off the bed and into his bathroom. When my eyes begin to droop, the room goes dark and I feel the bed shift beside me as Peeta crawls in.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, this is my bed," he smirks.

Normally, I would argue or leave, but it's either sleeping with him or the sofa, plus my fatigue just won't let me.

"Again, any funny business and you'll regret it," I scowl at him.

He raises three fingers to his lips then to the air.

"I promise I won't do anything, I'll be a good boy, keep my hands to myself and stay on my side of the bed"

I roll my eyes and turn so that I'm facing away from him.

"I knew I called you Mockingjay for a reason"

"What are you talking about Peeta?

"When I was younger, my dad told me this story of a bird called the Mockingjay. He told me it was an extremely rare bird and that when it sung, the whole forest would stop to listen because it was so beautiful"

"That's nice," my voice betrays my feelings because in the darkness of his room, my cheeks are flaming red and a smile plays on my lips.

"Goodnight my little Mockingjay," he whispers to me.

"Goodnight Peeta," I whisper back.

Just as I start to hit my heavy sleeping mode, the damn alarm clock goes off. I wait for Peeta to turn it off but he carries on sleeping.

"Peeta," I croak, pushing his shoulder. The annoying noise of the alarm continues bursting my eardrums.

Sighing, I reach over him and try to find the button to turn it of before I throw it across the room. When I finally find it, Peeta chuckles underneath me, making me jump and move to the other side of the bed, clutching my heart.

"Maybe I should make you promise not to start with the funny business, with the whole rubbing your boobs in my face," he smirks, putting his arms behind his head.  
"Oh my god you were awake!" I shout, grabbing my pillow and whacking him in the face with it. He laughs and lifts his arms to protect his face from future hits.

"I'm hungry, let's go eat something"

"No thanks, I'm good"

"Come on Mockingjay, it's close, just five minutes away on my motorcycle"

"Ha! Okay, too early in the morning to deal with your suicidal driving," I slip on my fluffy socks and trudge into the bathroom.

"Are you always this moody or is it just uncertainty that I'm going to keep my promise and not try to sleep with you, because-" he holds my hand and makes tiny circles with his thumb over my skin, "I like you way too much to do that to you"  
Peeta kisses my forehead and we go to brush our teeth.

"Morning sleepy heads!" Madge shouts as we walk out into the kitchen. "How was your night? Did you sleep at all?"

"I slept fine and Peeta stayed on one side of his bed and I on the other if that's what you want to know," I sit down on the a kitchen stool and Gale sets down a plate of hot eggs in front of me. "Thanks Gale"

"Now that you owe me a favor, convince Madge to come to the couple's party at the House?"

I turn to Madge who's sitting beside me.

"Madge, go to the party with Gale"

"No," she says with a mouth full of egg.

"Sorry Gale, I tried," I shrug and offer him a smile.

"Babe, please? It's a month away, I really need to be there"

"Gale, I have told you that I'm not going. I won't know anybody there and it'll be awkward"

"Lots of girls that sit with us at lunch are gonna be there," Gale leans over the kitchen island and holds her hands.

"Sorority sluts? Gale, do you even know me?" a sly smile suddenly spreads over her face and she looks at me then at Peeta, who's drinking coffee by the sink. "If Katniss went, I would go"  
"It's a couple's party, Madge," I roll my eyes and drink some juice.

She looks at Peeta then at me again.

"Madgie, Peet doesn't go to those things. They're for couples and he's, y'know," Gale says patiently to his girlfriend.

"Then we'll find someone for you! Gale has some really hot, single frat brothers, right baby?"

"I guess I could ask some of the guys?" Gale scratches the back of his head.

"I'll go with her"

We all look at Peeta wide eyed.

"It's okay Peeta, I don't need you to-"

"I want to go with you, as friends," he cuts me off. "It'll be fun, the four of us"

"Ohmygod, Katniss, please!" Madge looks at me with puppy eyes.

"Come on, Katniss, I really need to go to this thing," Gale begs.

I look at Peeta, who shrugs and smirks at me, then at Gale and Madge.

"Fine," I sigh as Madge hugs me tight, squealing in my ear.

"I owe you one Katniss," Gale smiles and walks off into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you for the awesome response to this fic, I was worried when I first posted it, since it was based on such an amazing book but you guys love it so...! Anyway, for those who are wondering, the song Katniss was singing in the shower was In For The Kill by La Roux.


	3. Chapter 3

Johanna took another drag of her cigarette and puffed it back out in two streams through her nose. I discreetly turn my face away but the smell still hits my nose. 

"So then he starts stalking me around the club, so I thought, the best way to get right of him is to just open up my legs already," she says before taking another drag.

"Johanna!" I look at her horrified, not because she had sex with him, but because she was so crude about it. 

"Oops, sorry I forgot I had a child listening to my weekend's events," she teases, throwing her cigarette on the floor and stomping on it.

"Shut up," I roll my eyes, "and if you want him to stop stalking you, stop having sex with him and don't let him pay for your drinks!"

"I would do that, but, I'm broke so," Johanna shrugs and smirks maliciously, then her eyes focus on something behind me. "Speaking of not having sex with someone"

"Hey Mockingjay, Johanna," he smiles at me and nods in acknowledgement to Jo. "I'm heading to my place right now, let's go"

"Um, I was actually gonna go to my dorm"

"You're not sleeping there tonight?"

"No, I am, I just need to get some stuff," I mutter, fully aware of Jo gaping next to me.

"Like what?"

"Stuff Peeta! Like my razor, contact lenses and other girl stuff!"

"Well it's about time, it feels like tiny spikes are scratching my legs at night," he chuckles and Johanna makes a choking sound.

"And that's how the rumours start!" She laughs. 

"Peeta shut up!" With my cheeks the colour of my favourite fruit, I turn to Johanna, "I'm sleeping at Peeta and Gale's place while they fix the showers. I'm just doing that. Sleeping."

"Yeah, sure, no judging," she shouts as she turns around and walks off before laughing her head off.

I groan and storm up the stairs, ignoring Peeta's shouting to wait for him.

"I'm sorry, Mockingjay! It didn't mean to upset you"

Throwing my door open, I grab what I was looking for and stuff them into a small plastic bag, then leave just as quick. Peeta tries to get the bag out of my hands but I pull my hand away from him along with the bag.

"Mockingjay," he says, stopping in front of me, blocking my exit.

"Peeta. Move" 

"No"

I scowl and him and try to push at his chest.

"It was just a joke, why are you so pissed off?" He asks, not budging a single inch.

"Because you go around saying things like that and people start thinking things about us that aren't true!" I slap his rock hard chest, and regret when my hands begin to sting from the hit.

"Who cares?" He raises his eyebrows, genuinely curious.

"I do Peeta, I don't want people to think that I'm one of the sluts you've slept with," I mutter, looking down at my feet.

"Let them think, but if they even dare say it and it reaches my ears, god help them," he tilts my chin up and looks into my eyes, seriousness pouring from them.

I gasp.

"Oh god, Peeta, what if they think that were together but you're still sleeping around with girls! That explains why Lavinia was so smug when she saw me!"

"Lavinia...?" He whispers, furrowing his brows in thought.

"Are you kidding me? The redhead from yesterday?" 

"Oh yeah, her"

Grunting, I try to walk around him but he steps in the way again, chuckling.

"It's not funny Peeta! God dammit! Get out of my way!"

"How about this, I'll put an end to all these rumours okay? But you can't let people's opinion of you get to you okay?"

"Fine Peeta, whatever, let's just go," I say, scowling and finally managing to move around him. When we get to his motorcycle, he looks at me and smiles.

"Let's go to The Hob tonight, have some fun," his grin is so contagious that I find myself smiling too.

"The Hob? Isn't that the biker's bar?"

"It used to be, until college students began to think it was cool, now it might as well be called a night club. Please come with me Mockingjay, let your hair down for once," he tugs on my braid, smirking at me.

"I dunno, I won't feel comfortable- Peeta what the hell are you doing!" I say through my teeth as he gets down on his knees as looks at me through his eyelashes with his hands clasped together.

"I'm begging you, Mockingjay, don't make me go alone?"

"Peeta, people are looking at us!"

He carries on batting his eyelashes.

"Okay! Okay! I'll go just get up you big dummy!" I laugh as I push him over.

"The power of the puppy eyes never fail," he smirks and kicks the motorcycle alive before speeding off to his apartment.

We walk into the apartment, Madge is sitting on the kitchen island in one of Gale's University of Panem t-shirt and Gale has his head inside the refrigerator.

"Do you wanna go out tonight Madge?" I ask and watch as her eyes light up.

"Yeah, we're going to that Mexican place then heading to The Hob, you guys in?" Peeta adds filling up a glass of water and chugging it down.

Madge jumps off the kitchen island and slaps Gale's butt.

"Let's get ready baby!" She squeals in excitement, Gale chuckles and follows her, licking his lips.

By the time I finish getting ready, Madge, Gale and Peeta are huffing by the door, their patience long gone. I open the door, hopping on one foot to get the black heel on the other. Then I tug on the hem of my figure hugging black dress, trying to keep it from ridding up my thighs as I walk.

"My best friend ladies and gentleman!" Madge winks and walks out of the apartment with Gale.

"When I said to let your hair down, you didn't have to very literally do it," Peeta chuckles, mentioning towards my hair that cascades in waves down my back. "Nice legs by the way"

"My razor does miracles," I laugh, "but what's the plan for tonight?"

"I was thinking to just do what I usually do and surround myself with women," he chuckles and holds my hand, helping me walk down the stairs.

"Yes! And I'll find some cute guy-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mockingjay," he cuts in and opens the car door for me.

I roll my eyes but don't say anything.

At the Mexican place, we drink enough alcoholic concoctions for the whole night so when we get to The Hob, everyone is already slightly drunk. 

"Y'know baby, I would at least like to set foot in the place before the end of the night," Madge grumbles after five minutes of Gale driving around the parking lot.

"I need to find a spot that big enough for my truck, I don't want some drunk idiot to scratch this baby"

At last, Gale finds a sport and we all stumble out. Once were in the bar, Peeta takes my fake ID in his hands and takes a good look at it.

"Where'd you get these Mockingjay? You don't get them this good around here"

Madge thankfully snatches it out of his hands and gives it to me.

"Peeta honey, we're from Philadelphia, we've got our contacts, especially Katniss!" she winks at him and stumbles a little in her heels. I'm a flash, Gale is by her side with an arm around her waist.

"Jesus woman, you're such a light weight," he chuckles.

"What do you mean Madge?" Peeta asks, his expression suddenly turned serious.

Madge looks at me her eyes wide, after realising what she just said.

"She's kidding, everyone needs to know someone to do this right?" I joke, forcing a laugh. "I need a drink"

After me and Madge down a shot of tequila, she pulls me to the dance floor and she starts moving to the beat of the music, her blonde hair hitting her sweaty face. A little while later, contaminated by the atmosphere of the place, I do the same, enjoying the feeling of 'letting my hair down'. Three songs go by and we go to see the boys who are sitting at the bar, however, Peeta isn't alone. Some curvy blonde has her hands all over him, whispering things in his ear.

"You'll get used to it soon Katniss, this always happens," Gale says with a sad smile, looking at the group of girls looking towards Peeta.

He sure wasn't kidding when he said he was going to surround himself with women.

Raising a hand, Peeta gets the bartender's attention and orders two beers. The overly busty blonde, smiles and bites her lips with glee as the bartender opens the beers and sets them in front of her. She picks one up and holds his hand, trying to pull him to the dance floor, but is abruptly pulled back when Peeta takes the beer out of her hand.

"This isn't for you, it's for her," he smiles at me and hands me the beer.

Normally I would feel sorry for the girl but tonight, I felt different, so I accepted it from him and took a gulp. The look on the blonde's face nearly had me in tears as she storms of nearly breaking her heels in the process. I lift up my bottle in the air and smile at him.

"To being the only girl Peeta Mellark the his who has no standards, doesn't want to sleep with!" I go to tap my bottle on his but he moves it away and laugh at me.

"What gave you the impression that I do want to sleep with you?"

I shrug.

"Mockingjay, you don't know the amount of times I thought about throwing you on my sofa and taking you on but a realised that it wasn't worth it, that you're worth more than that"

"Peeta!" I gush, playfully shoving his shoulder, "you think I'm too good for you!"

"I think you're too good for everybody"

Blushing, I take another gulp of my beer.

"Let's dance," he takes my hand before I have a chance to say no and pulls me to the dance floor only stop and whisper in my ear, "and trust me, I have standards"

Peeta pulls me in at the waist and starts moving to the beat of the music, keeping my body closer to his. Madge and Gale find us and dance around us too, however their mood is much different to ours as Gale pulls her in for a kiss caressing her. 

I look up at Peeta and see that his eyes are trained on me, the intense blue of his eyes holding my grey in place. Moving my hands across his chest, I can feel his chiseled muscles under the thin fabric of the shirt. I can count his washboard abs when my hands slide down his stomach and back up again. With the atmosphere Gale and a Madge are creating, along with the heat and proximity between me and Peeta, my thoughts aren't exactly in the friendzone area. If he can move like this when he's dancing, I can only imagine what he's like on that sofa.

Turning me around, Peeta puts his hands on my hips, pressing my backside against his crotch then moves his hands up my body and onto my arms, to circle them around his neck. Peeta's lips suddenly touch my neck and it's like the trace he's put me in, ends in the same second. I stop dancing and try to put some distance between as by racing to the bar and ordering a shot.

Just as quick, he's by my side, lifting a finger, indicating that he wants a shot too. Mu signature scowl is firmly in place as a look at him.

"Great way to make people think that there's nothing going on between us," I say through my teeth, covering the spot where he kissed me.

"I don't give a shit what people think"

I grit my teeth and look away from him and when he tries to touch me, I yank my arm out of his reach.

"Looks like the whole 'I'm to good to be taken to the sofa' speech was a load of crap," without having to look at him, I know what I just said hurt him.

"Long time no see,"another unnaturally curvy blonde she says, pouting and leaning over the counter, giving Peeta a full view of her breasts.

"Hi Delly," he greets her without taking his eyes off me.

"Relationship blues?" She asks tipping a shot glass back then licking her lips.

Peeta laughs, then drains his beer and laughs again, this time throwing Delly a seductive smirk.

"No, she's not even my girlfriend"

A smile breaks out on Delly's face when Peeta grabs her hand and drags her off to the dance floor. The way the two rub and slide against each other makes me shudder. Delly holds Peeta's hand and places it on her, letting him grope as much as he pleased. Fed up with the scene unravelling before my eyes, I turn around and ask the bartender for another drink, draining half of it in one go.

"Rough night?" A guy asks as he sits beside me, ordering a beer.

"You can say that," I reply, looking back at Peeta and scowling.

"He your boyfriend?" The guy mentions towards the two rubbing against each other on the dance floor.

"Nope, god forbid right?" I smile, pulling out my lipstick and applying some, trying to make my lips look attractive.

"My name's Marvel," he says extending his hand towards me. I take it and bite my lip.

"Katniss"

"That colour looks great on your lips"

"It tastes even better," I say, the alcohol taking a slutty effect on me.

"I'll be the judge of that," he whispers.

One minute I'm leaning in to kiss Marvel, then the next I'm being pulled back by Peeta. Fury burns in my eyes as I look at him. His shirt is stained from sweat and his lips are smudged with Delly's lipstick. Prying his hand off my arm and wiping the sweat of my arm on the skirt, I make a disgusted face then turn back to Marvel.

"We're going home Mockingjay," Peeta tries to get my attention but as if he were invisible, I keep smiling at Marvel.

Pissed off, Peeta moves to stand between me and Marvel.

"Do you even know him?" He asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"This is Marvel" 

"Peeta Mellark," he says extending his hand towards the guy.

"Peeta Mellark? Like, the Peeta Mellark?" Marvel's eyes go wide in amazement as he shakes Peeta's hand excitedly. "I went to one of your fights a while ago, man, I thought I was going to witness someone's death!"

I roll my eyes and groan, knowing where this is going.

"Do you want my friend over here to witness yours?" Peeta says through his teeth, squeezing Marvel's hand a little too hard. 

The poor guy looks at me, then at Peeta and finally realises that he isn't joking. He pulls his hand out of Peeta's grip and apologises before walking off in another direction.

"You're such a fucking jerk," I spit, pushing him out of the way as I storm off.

I follow Madge and Gale out of the club and when Peeta tries to hold my hand when I lose my balance, I yank it away from him. However he grabs it and pulls me to a stop, my face inches from his.

"Damn it, I kissed your neck Mockingjay, so what!?" He shouts, his breathe smelling like beer and cigarettes.

"So what!? Peeta I'm not one of your sluts!" I shout back, twice as loud.

He laughs once then runs a hand through his hair, not believing what I just said.

"I spend everyday with you, twenty four hours, seven days a damn week! You sleep in my bed, shower in my bathroom! Yet you refuse to be seen with me!"

"Who am I standing here with then?! Who did I dance with? Who do I sit at lunch with! For god sake Peeta!"

"I treat you with nothing other than respect"

"Treat me like you own me! I can't even talk to a guy without you threatening to smash their face's in! What you did to Marvel, not-" I smack both fists on his chest-" cool!"

He holds my my tiny fists in one of his hands and laughs at me, infuriating me even more.

"Do you even know who Marvel is?" When I don't reply, he pulls me in even closer. "He was charged with sexual assault last year, he didn't get arrested because they gave up on pressing charges"

"Looks like you two have a topic in common then"

"Are you calling me a rapist?" The tone he used with me is lethal and low.

I scowl, knowing that I've gone too far.

"Dammit Peeta, no! I'm just- I'm just pissed off!"

"I'm sorry I kisses your neck okay?! I'm drunk, you look beautiful, your skin smells great and you neck was close to my lips so I kissed it! I'm sorry, I won't do it again!"

"You think I'm beautiful?" I ask, totally forgetting his apology, with a smile already creeping up on my lips.

"What-But?" He sighs and shakes his head, smiling a little too. "Of course I find you beautiful, Mockingjay"

We look at each other and then I burst out laughing and he chuckles, pulling into a hug.

"You don't know the effect you're having," he says into my hair before holding my hand and walking towards Gale's truck.

We get to the apartment and I clamber into the shower to wash off the sweat and makeup off my face. When I step out, I learn that Peeta left one of his shirts and my sleeping shorts by the sink for me to change into. Giggling when the shirt swallows me up, I walk out of the bathroom and collapse on the bed. Peeta's already there, in just boxers, staring at me.

I restrain myself from grabbing his face and kissing him with all my strength.

"Good night Mockingjay," he says switch off the light.

"Hey Peet, are you sleeping?" I whisper after tossing and turning for while.

"Yes," he laughs then turns around to face me, "what is it, my little bird?"

"I know had a huge argument about this-"

"I'm not going to have sex with you"

"I was going to ask that!"

"Then what is it?"

Instead of replying, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself as close as a physically can towards him. Peeta freezes, unsure of what to do, then I feel him relax and he hugs me even closer. When he goes to let me go, I squeeze him tight.

"You want me to cuddle you until you sleep?" He murmurs in my ear.

I nod against his chest, a light blush forming on my cheeks.

"Im drunk okay?" I mutter.

"You don't need an excuse for anything, Mockingjay, I'll do whatever you want. Always"

The high pitch noise of the alarm, rudely awakens me from my sleep as well as the light seeping in from the half opened curtains. Peeta is still sleeping heavily, his leg thrown over my waist and an arm around my neck. I try to move his arm gently without waking him up, but he groans and wraps himself around me tighter.

"Stop it, Mockingjay, I'm trying to sleep"

However, I don't stop, I carry on trying to untangle myself from him. He finally gives up and loosens his hold. I sit by the edge of the bed and rub my face, then look back at a semi naked Peeta. 

The friendship line is getting blurred and it's all my fault.

"Morning Katniss," Gale greets me as I walk into the kitchen. "What's gotten you up so early?"

"Peeta's damn alarm," I chuckle, opening the cupboard and getting out my favourite mint tea.

"Yeah, I was meaning to talk to you about him"

"Okay?" I say, pouring milk into my tea. 

"I don't want to know what happened between you and Peeta last night and hell knows what's going on between the two of you. But, I know him, and he's bound to do something that will really piss you off, but we all have our demons right? He doesn't stick around with people for too long but he seems to really like you so..."

He shrugs.

"Don't worry Gale, I'll put up with his crap," I take a sip of my tea and smile at him.

He smiles back before walking into his bedroom to wake up a soon to be very moody Madge.

"That looks like poison," Peeta croaks, looking inside my cup.

"Good morning to you too"

"Someone told me your birthday is next week?" He asks, rummaging through the fridge.

"Uhuh, Madge will probably take me out to eat. I'm not big on birthday celebrations. When's yours?"

"April 1st," he says with a mouthful of apple.

"Your birthday's on April fools?" I raise my eyebrow is disbelief.

"Uhuh, now hurry up or we're going to be late"

"Oh it's okay, I'm going with Madge today"

I swear I see hurt flash in his eyes before he replies with a shrug.

"Sure"


	4. Chapter 4

"Can you feel it?" Madge leans over and whispers.

"Feel what?" I ask, keeping my eyes on Professor Aurelius.

"Darius' gaze! He's been staring at you ever since you walked in"

"What?" I try to turn around but Madge stops me.

"Don't turn around now... Okay turn around... now"

I look behind me and Darius smiles directly at me, showing a perfectly shaped dimples on both his cheeks. Putting a lock of hair behind my ear I smile back at him and turn around, blushing.

"Seriously? He was staring at me?" I gush, feeling giddy.

Madge nods then giggles, waggling her eyebrows at me.

At the end of class, me and Madge start walking straight to the cafeteria only stopping when Darius shouts my name.

"Hey Katniss!"

"Oh, hi Darius, what's up?" I say, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You coming to the party this weekend, right?"

"That's the plan"

"Great, I'll see you there then," he waves at Madge then smiles crookedly at me before striding off.

Madge grabs my hand and turns me around to face her so I can see her stunned expression.

"Since when do you get asked out by really cute guys and don't tell me?"

I roll my eyes and carry on walking towards the strong smell of greasy food.

"He didn't ask me out," I mutter as we get closer to Gale who's standing outside with Peeta while he smokes.

"Oh puh-lease! He asked you to meet him at a party, a frat party, it's basically a date!"

"What's going on?" Gale asks as he wraps his arms around his girlfriend and kisses her on the lips.

"Katniss here, was getting totally drooled over by Darius in our class who then asked her out and she didn't tell me"

"He wasn't-" I begin but Peeta cuts in.

"Darius?" He makes a disgusted face then shrugs.

"You guys gonna join us in indulging ourselves in the luxury of cafeteria food?" Gale jokes, throwing an arm over Madge's shoulder.

Me and Peeta follow the smitten couple and grab our food. The whole time Peeta remains quiet and thoughtful, I try to make him laugh by making jokes and snarky comments about the food like usual but he just remains silent or ignores me all together.

"Peet, what's wrong?" I ask slowly, trying to look into his eyes.

"Nothing, I'm cool," he smirks at me and pops some pasta in his mouth.

"Sure? You don't seem like yourself..."

The quiet place is suddenly filled with the rowdy football team as they trample inside, hollering and shouting at people. They sit near us and start goofing around, making everyone uncomfortable and by the look on Peeta's face, pissing him off. Finnick Odiar, the captain of the football team and one of Peeta's biggest competitors for the schools man slut, slaps him playfully on the shoulder.

"Sup Peet? Heard you fucked Cressida Stone real good, man, she can't stop going on about you" Finnick congratulates him then holds his fist up, waiting for Peeta to fist bump him back.

"Go away Odair," Peeta says, not even lifting his head to look at him.

Finnick starts to laugh but before Peeta can react, I stand up, smacking my hands on the table to get his attention.

"Enough, Finnick"

Clenching his jaw, Peeta glares at me in a way I've never seen before.

"I can stand up for myself Katniss"

"What? I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"I don't need your apology. In fact, I don't need anything from you," he says in a low voice before walking off.

"What the fuck is up his ass?" Johanna asks as she sits down where Peeta was, just a couple of seconds ago.

"That's what I'd like to know," I scowl at my food.

"Don't worry Katniss, this is an example of what I told you this morning," Gale reminds me, patting my shoulder.

"Yeah but he isn't like this, I know he isn't"

Gale shrugs and goes back to focusing on his food, the atmosphere now tense between everyone.

I catch a ride to the apartment with Madge after class and my heart tightens a little when Peeta's motorcycle isn't in the parking lot. Still, with a smidgen of hope, I go to his bedroom to check if he's there but nothing. The bed is still in the mess he left it this morning with my clothes littering the place. I throw my backpack near his desk and start cleaning.

When I'm finished, I sit in the middle of the newly made bed and wait for him to come back. My back begins to hurt from sitting cross legged, so I lay down on the bed and feel my eyes and body grow heavy. Muffled voices coming from the living room wake me up, one of them being Peeta's. Groggily, I trudge towards my friends but stop with my hand on the door when I hear my name.

"Katniss will understand Peet, don't beat yourself up about it," Gale consoles his best friend.

"Why don't you take her out on a date or something? You two are already going to the couple's party," Madge joins in.

My eyes go wide and a cold feeling spreads through my body.

"No, no, that's not what I want Madge. I just-just, urgh, I don't want Katniss to be my girlfriend"

"Well what do you want Peeta?" Madge says, by the sound of her voice, she's losing her temper.

"I want her to be around, okay? She's different, she doesn't put up with my shit and her only interest in me isn't my dick, surprisingly. Anyway, you're the one who said I'm not her type"

Madge snorts.

"Please, you're more her type than you know, trust me"

Before Madge can say anymore, I walk out of Peeta's room, shutting the door loudly so they can know I'm coming.

"Hey guys," I say, faking a yawn.

"Sleep well?" Madge smiles at me.

"Uhuh," I fill up a glass of water and drink half of it in one go. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, I need to talk to you," Peeta impassively says to me then walks past into his bedroom.

The cold feeling comes back, making my heartbeat erratical. I shut the door behind me when I walk into his room and sit on the opposite side to him on the bed.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

He exhales and pulls me closer to him, holding my hand.

"I'm sorry for being a jackass to you today, Mockingjay"

I visibly relax.

"Where you angry at me?"

Peeta shakes his head.

"What was it then?"

He half-smiles at me, rubbing circles on the back of my hand.

"I have a habit of hurting the people around me, mostly the ones I care about"

"Yeah, so I've been told," I roll my eyes, moving closer to him so that I rest my head on his shoulder. "I think I can deal with them, your little temper tantrums"

"Something that I'll never understand why," he chuckles, placing his chin on top of my head.

The annoying ringtone of Peeta's phone ruins our moment, as it begins to ring loudly in his pocket. He sighs, pulls it out the phone and slides his finger across the screen to answer it.

"Yeah... Chaff? Okay... Of course... It will be easy man... Full house? Okay... Got it," he smiles down at me and pulls me up with him. "That was a Thresh, I need to be at that abandoned hotel downtown near the lake in an hour"

When Peeta tells Gale about the fight that's going to take place, Madge pulls me into Peeta's room and starts going through my clothes. She finds what she's looking for and throws it at me.

"Wear this"

"What? Why?"

"Katniss, you can't go to a fight looking like that"

"Last time I went like this," I mumble looking at my jeans, t-shirt and converse outfit.

"Last time I thought you were kidding about coming"

"Hurry up Madge!" Gale shouts from the living room.

"Okay, okay!" She shouts back, running into Gale's bedroom.

I pick up what Madge picked out for me and roll my eyes.

"Come on Mockingjay, we need to go!"

"I'm coming! Geez!" Swinging open the door, stumble out in red heels. Peeta's jaw drops and he's by my side the next second.

"Go change," he says, pushing me back in the room.

"She looks hot Peeta!" Madge protests at the door.

"Exactly! How am I supposed to concentrate on beating Chaff to a pulp when I'm worried about all the drunken college students looking at your boobs? Change. Now"

I look down at my low cut blouse then scowl at him, knowing he's right. Grabbing one of his hoodies from the coat hanger behind the door, I yank it on, plait my hair and wipe the lipstick on his sleeve.

"Better?"

"Perfect, let's go"

We race down the stairs and jump on the motorcycle. I press my body against his as Peeta speeds through town in nearly double the speed limit. Since going to and from college with Peeta for nearly a week, I've grown used to his mad driving skills, however, sometimes I still need to take a breath and hold onto something until my legs feel normal again.

"Are you gonna stay here all night or..." He teases as a hold onto his arm.

"Yes actually, I'm planning on thanking god for letting me keep my life today since I came so close to losing it in the hands of you"

He laughs and shakes his head. I walk ahead to the front doors of the old hotel but Peeta pulls me back and lifts an eyebrow.

"You actually think we're going through there?"

"Yeah? From where else would we enter?"

A sly smile spreads across his lips as he tugs on my hand, leading me to the side of the building. He kicks a bunch of cardboard out of the way, revealing a small window which he pushes open.

"The front looks like a much better option," I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh come on, Mockingjay, where's your sense of adventure," he winks at me then kneels down near the window. "I'll go in first then you go and I'll catch you, okay?"

"No Peeta!" I say through my teeth but it's to late because he's already disappeared into the darkness of the small hole. "Peeta!"

"It's okay! Slide in and I'll catch you, I promise, Mockingjay!"

Taking in a deep breathe, I kneel down just like he did, then slide through the window into Peeta's strong arms. He sets me down and takes hold of my hand as he guides me around the pitch black building. After a few seconds, I begin to hear shouting from a crowd and not soon after that, a small beam of light.

"What happens now?" I ask as we stop behind the door separating us from the crowd.

"Now I wait for Thresh to do his little show then I walk out through this door and you will follow we and go straight to Thresh"

"No, I'll find Madge and Gale and stick with them"

"Mockingjay, today is going to be a full house. Chaff is from our rival college which means what you experienced last time was peaceful compared to tonight. I'll feel better if you're with Thresh"

"Fine, if it will help you win then I'll stay with Thresh," I smile up at him.

My fingers start playing with the end of my braid as I anxiously wait for Peeta to be called. I keep looking at him, expecting to find some sort of worried expression or something to indicate that he's feeling a tiny bit like me but he's just smirking his usual smirk.

"Aren't you nervous?"

"Nope, you?"

"A little bit," I mutter, tugging on the end of my braid a little harder.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I won't even let Chaff touch me, I'll end it quick"

I roll my eyes, knowing that even in this scarcity of light, Peeta can still see me.

"So you're saying that you let them hit you?"

"Yeah, to make it interesting. It would be dull and no one would beg against me if I didn't get hit at least twice, right?"

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard," I laugh, shaking my head in disbelief.

"You wanna bet?" He lifts a brow, challenging me.

I laugh louder.

"Sure, let's bet on it"

His smirk turns into a full grin and it's like a light is suddenly switched on in his eyes by the way the intense blue shines.

"I've got one, if you win, I'll go for a whole month without sex-" I make a strange sound at the back of my throat, trying to stop myself from laughing, "but if I win, you have to live with me for a month"

"That's an awful bet! I'm already staying with you"

"The dorm showers were fixed this morning," he winks at me and holds his hand out. "You in or out?"

I shake his hand and smile.

"It's going to be great seeing you turn into a virgin again," I joke making him chuckle.

"Don't be so sure about that, Mockingjay," he kisses my head and walks out when Thresh calls his name.

The students go wild as Peeta struts to the fighting square. I follow him closely, when he nods in my direction, Thresh nods back and pulls me to his side. I tap his arm and the enormously built man looks down at me with a raised eyebrow.

"One fifty on Peeta"

His white smile contrasts with his dark skin as I slap the money on the palm of his hand.

"Good call," he pulls the megaphone to his lips but remembers that I'm right beside him, "you're gonna want to cover your ears"

As soon as Thresh gave them the green flag to begin the Game, Peeta ducked, dodging a heavy punch from Chaff, who is taller and bigger than him. My hands get clammy and my lip gets assaulted by my teeth as a nervously bite my lip to keep from screaming for Peeta to duck, punch, dodge or move back.

Chaff goes to hit Peeta but is taken aback when he dodges the hit but comes back, using all his weight to strike him on the nose with his elbow. The riot in the small space went from loud to deafening, when Peeta punches Chaff on the other side of the face before he can recover from the previous hit. Chaff takes a couple of steps back before going full rage on Peeta, punching left, right and centre. I draw blood from my lips and dig my nails in my arms as I watch Peeta move away from every hit. When Chaff's fist throwing slows, Peeta strikes him a number of times, blood splattering in every direction each time, and finishes with an undercut, knocking his opponent down.

Thresh ends the match by racing to a beaten, bloodied and sweaty Chaff, and throwing a black cloth on his face. He then turns to Peeta and lifts his hand in the air, shouting to the rowdy, drunken crowd.

"Our victor, Peeta 'Wild Mutt' Mellark!"

Just like last time, people push and shove to get their money or to congratulate the winner and as they do that, I move away from them until my back hits the wall. A few minutes go by and Peeta still hasn't come to find me, I begin to feel anxious and scared. So I take a deep breathe and try to find the way we came through. As I step through the darkness, I hear quick heavy footsteps and then arms circle around my waist, I'm about to scream and fight for my life when Peeta murmurs in my ear.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Mockingjay. Where the hell were you?"

"I was waiting for you but you didn't come so I thought you forgot about me or something so I tried to find my way out"

He turns me around and looks straight into my eyes.

"I would never forget about you," his lips break into a full out grin, "and it's going to be pretty hard since you're going to be sleeping in my bed for a month"

My eyes go wide.

"You're actually going to make me stay with you?"

"Were you going to make me stay celibate?"

I roll my eyes and he chuckles, taking my hand and guiding me out of the old building. When we get outside, Peeta stuffs his hand in his pocket and pulls out some money.

"So, Thresh told me to give this to you?"

"Oh, thanks," I say, awkwardly taking the money from him.

"You placed bets?"

"Well, if I were to lose then I might as well make money from it," I shove him playfully. "If I'm going to stay with you then I'm going to need clothes"

We walk through the darkness without any trouble and Peeta helps me out of the window and into the cool breeze of the night. Bright stars illuminate the clear, dark sky as we walk across to his motorcycle. My hair whips around my face when Peeta races through the city street. Burying my face in the soft material of his hoodie, I inhale his scent, a strange mix of smoke, cinnamon rolls and his aftershave. When he hops off the bike and turns to me my eyes go wide at the blood stains on his shirt.

"Your shirt"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"The blood? Clove will freak"

He shrugs and pulls it off, showing off his perfectly carved abs and the tribal tattoos that cover the right side of his body.

"Oh yeah, that'll make her not freak out," I say sarcastically, walking into the dorms and to my room. "Hey Clove"

"Uh, hi?" She replies, watching me pull out suitcases and throw clothes inside it. "You moving out?"

"Nope, she just lost a bet," Peeta chuckles from the doorway, "anyway, I'm Peeta"

"Clove," the normally cool and distant girl blushes, stumbling over herself to shake his hand, "I've heard all about you Peet"

"Peet?" I mouth, making a face. The girl's known him for five seconds and is already calling him 'Peet'?

Clove licks her lips and looks at his shirtless body.

"Peeta, how are we taking my clothes? We came by bike?" I say, standing between him and Clove.

"Gale's on his way don't worry about it, Mockingjay," he takes the suitcases from me and turns to still blushing Clove, "It was nice meeting you"

"Yeah, you too, I'll see you around Peet"

"Bye to you too Clove," I mutter making them realise that I'm still in the room.

"Yeah, uhuh"

"So what do you think about Clove?" I ask, watching the night sky, waiting for Gale to arrive.

He shrugs then smirks at me before pulling his stained shirt back on.

"She's hot"

I roll my eyes.

"Are you jealous, Mockingjay?" He laughs, wide eyed.

"Sweetheart, there are a lot of things in this world that I'm jealous of. For example, Madge's perfect hair or Channing Tatum's wife, but, trust me when I say this to you Peeta, your sexual interest in my roommate does not fit in with my jealous category"

"Sure, I totally believe you," he elongates the words, winking at me.

I punch his arm playfully then go back to looking at the stars.

"Why do you want me to stay with you?"

"What?"

"I said," turning to him, "why do you want me to stay with you in your apartment?"

He smiles down at me, making goosebumps form all over my arms. Peeta throws his arm over my shoulder and kisses my forehead.

"Because, everything is a lot less shittier when you're around"

A smile escapes from my lips as he places a hand on cheek and rubs small circles with his thumb. My cheeks catch fire and my heartbeat echoes in ears when Peeta leans in, towards my lips.

A car headlight blinds us for a moment, making us both jump back in shock. Gale's black 4x4 rolls in with a grinning Madge hanging from the window.

"I thought you didn't want to bunk with the guy, now your moving in with him?" Madge shouts at us.

"Shut up!" I shout back, laughing slightly.

Peeta slams the trunk shut, with my suitcases already in and walks over to Gale. They exchange a couple of words before he speeds off with Madge squealing, still hanging out of the window.

"Hey Peet?" I say, just before kicks the motorcycle to life.

"Hmm?"

"You know your bad mood this morning? Was it because I was supposed to move out today?"

He doesn't reply, he just looks back at me, smiles and drives off. Our drive to his place is slow, he stops at every red light and stays in the speed limit for once. Whenever we stop, Peeta places his hand on my knee or wraps his fingers around mine to warm them up. I can't help but get the feeling that our friendship is changing, that we no longer have that clear line between what's okay and what's not and I don't know if I can do anything about it. But mainly, I don't know what's going to unfold in the next four weeks.

Before Peeta even has a change to put his hand on the door knob to open it, Madge swings the door open with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face.

"Well you two certainly took your time,"she teases.

"Babe," Gale warns from his place on the sofa with a beer in his hand.

She rolls her eyes but pushes the door open the rest of the way, letting us through then sits on his lap, resting her head between his neck and shoulder. I try to sit on the arm of the recliner but Peeta pulls me down so I sit on his lap.

"We'll look at the two of you, if I didn't know I would-"

"Madge please," Gale warns again.

"But Peeta, looks so different, I dunno, something has changed..."

I look at him and see what she's talking about. The features on his face are more relaxed and the brightness in his eyes from earlier is still there.

"I won a fight without a single cut and got a wad load of money, I think you would be happy too"

"No, no, it's something else..."

"Madge enough," Gale says through his teeth.

"Geez! Fine!" She says, lifting her hands in the air in an act of surrender. "Changing the subject then, are you going to the Beta Tau house party with Darius this weekend then?"

All eyes fall on me, waiting for my response.

"He didn't ask me to go with him, he said he'll meet me there if I go," I mutter, blushing at all the attention.

"Yeah but are you gonna go?" Madge asks, already knowing my answer considering she heard it this morning.

"Darius said you guys were going too?"

"Yeah, me and Madge are going but I don't think Peeta is-"

"Yes I am," he cuts in, his voice gone from happy and calm to cold and hard.

"But you told me you weren't, last weekend, when I asked you?" Gale furrows his brows in confusion at Peeta's change of heart.

"So? I decided that I do wanna go," he then looks at me as Gale mutters something unintelligible and he walks into his room, Madge following him. "Are you going?"

"Yeah, I sorta told him I would already"

"But he isn't coming to pick you up or anything?"

"No, he just told me to meet him there"

"Okay," the smile appears on his face again as he lifts me so he can stand up. "I'm going to shower and when I get back, were gonna talk about something"

After he disappears behind the door to his room, I begin to think about what he could possible mean about wanting to 'talk about something', when murmurs turn into shouts behind the closed door of Gale's bedroom. His door flies open, making me jump in surprise, then he comes storming out, making a beeline towards me. I straighten back and look at him straight in the eyes out of habit.

"You promised me Katniss!" He spits through his teeth after looking around to check Peeta was gone.

"What are you talking about Gale?" I reply normally.

"You said you weren't going to get involved with Peeta that way!"

"I'm not. We are just friends!" I try to keep my voice down but old habits die hard.

"It doesn't look like it from what I can see!"

"Gale, stop it!" Madge puts a hand on his shoulder, calming him down with just her touch.

"Baby, I told you this was is going to happen! I told you!" He says to his girlfriend, in a different tone of a voice, a heartbreaking one.

"What happens between Katniss and Peeta, happens but that won't change a thing about us! Please, trust me, baby, I swear to you," she holds his face between her hands.

Gale looks back at me, then at his girlfriend and walks off, deflated into his room again.

"Fucking hell," Madge curses as she collapses on the sofa, "convincing him that you two aren't going to affect us is getting harder than I thought!"

"What do you mean us two? I told you, there's nothing going on," groan, rubbing my hands on my face.

"Really Katniss?"

"Yes, Peeta even said that he doesn't see me that way!"

"And you believe him?"

"It doesn't matter," I shrug, exhausted and emotionally drained from today, "it's never going to happen, he said he's not into me, he's got a phobia of any commitment what so ever, I won't be able to deal with all his mood swings and I don't want to be with him that way anyway. Why can't Gale get that in his head?"

"Gale's known Peeta for many years... but this time he actually spoke to him about it"

"What do you mean?"

"Madge!" Gale calls for her in his room making her sigh.

"Katniss, I've known you my entire life and that means I know you better than you know yourself. I see the difference in you when you're around him and when you're not. You two spend almost every minute of the day together! The only difference between you and Peeta to me and Gale is that you aren't having sex"

"No Madge, there's a huge difference. Gale doesn't bring random women back with him every single night to have sex with them and you aren't going to a party tomorrow to meet some guy you really like! Plus, you know I can't get involved with someone like Peeta, you out of everyone should know"

"You can't let what happened in the past come between you and Peeta," her face is etched in concern and her eyes are filled with sadness.

I'm about to reply to her when Peeta's voice makes us both pop out of our own little bubble.

"Let it go, Madge," he says, gripping the towel around his waist like a life line. I notice that all the serenity from earlier is long gone. He looks at me for a moment, then turns around, slamming the door behind him.

"Believe me, Katniss, you're making a huge mistake," she whispers, holding my hand. "Why go to a party to meet a guy who might like you back when you have one who's crazy about you right in front of your eyes?"

Then she walks off without giving me a chance to reply, leaving me speechless and spinning. I think about everything that's happened today; Darius staring at me, Peeta's mood swings, the way he smiled at me after making the bet, him not acting all flirty with Clove, the ride home, our conversation about the party, Gale being pissed at me, Madge trying to convince me to give Peeta a go, him walking in on our conversation, what Madge said about him being crazy about me.

I sigh, hitting the back of my head against the recliner. An hour goes by and I'm still sitting down, being too much of a coward to face Peeta as he walks past me. For a second I think he came to get for bed but I notice his outfit, the keys in his hand and the unlit cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Where you going?" I ask, standing up.

"Out," he opens the door and shuts it hard as he walks out.

With another sigh, I fall back on the sofa. In hopes of him coming home tonight, I stay up and switch between watching the door and watching the clock tick above the TV. At about one in the morning, I give up and slip into a cold, empty bed. When my eyes begin to drop and a heaviness seeps into my body, I hear his motorcycle outside. I throw the covers back and go to open the door but stop when I hear not one, but two girly giggles. They stumble up the stairs, Peeta opens the front door with quite a struggle, then all I can hear are kissing and moans of pleasure as they fall onto the sofa.

My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach. I grab a pillow and lift it over my face and ears trying to drown out the noise but it doesn't help so I grab it and hurl it across the room in anger at myself for feeling like this. I fall back onto the bed and cover my face with my arm, when Peeta swings the door open. My breathe gets caught in my throat as he walks to my side and opens up the draw full of condoms, pulling out a handful then walking back out.

A couple of minutes go by with the girls giggling and murmuring then they stop for a few seconds only to start again, this time with loud mewls of pleasure, grunts and squealing. I run the palm of my hands into my eye sockets as images of the porn scene happening outside fill my mind. Laughing humourlessly, I remember what I thought about the blurred lines. Well, at least they are neon bright now.

Peeta will be Peeta and we are just friends.

The show outside comes to an end after an hour, followed by pissed of murmuring of women that are being kicked out. Peeta walks straight to his bathroom then climbs into bed with his back to me. Even after his shower, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes still wafts around him. I grit my teeth, angry of at him for driving after drinking enough to for a whole army of men.

I watch as his back go from ridged to relaxed as his breathing slows and he falls into sleep. Moving carefully, I get out of bed and quietly open my suitcase, pulling out the huge blanket my dad got for me when I was born and my phone. Condoms packets, used and unused, scatter the floor of the living room. I walk around them and to the recliner, keeping my eyes away from the sofa. My blanket warms up my cold body as I pull out my phone and press the number I want.

"Katniss? What's wrong?"

"Hey little duck," I smile sadly when I hear my sister's voice. "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to hear your voice"

"Sure, that's why you rang me in the middle of the night, spill it Everdeen"

So I do. When I'm finished explaining everything from the Games to Peeta's threesome and Darius asking me to meet him at the party, I feel like a weight is lifted off my shoulders.

"Well you have a reason to be upset, angry even, at Peeta. He's been acting all sweet with you from what I heard and then Madge tells you he's crazy about you and he does that? I guess this proves that you two a just meant to be friends and it gives you a guilt free pass to go see that Darius guy, who by the way sounds super cute!"

I laugh, wiping a tear from my eye.

"I miss you so much, Little Duck, I sometimes even think about just leaving everything and going back to you and uncle Haymitch"

"And if you do that I'd drag your ass right back!" She half scolds half laughs, then turns serious. "Me and uncle Haymitch are fine, Katniss, you know it would just upset him if you came home because of us"

"How's his drinking?"

She sighs before answering.

"We're trying to cut down but... You know uncle Haymitch, he's as stubborn as the rest of us"

We both laugh then fall silent.

"Has Lillian showed up?"

"No, mom's been gone since you threatened to call the police if she ever turned up on our door step," she exhales sadly.

"Good," my voice is stern and final but Prim, being the kind forgiving girl she is, tries to do my mother's apologising for her.

"Katniss, she's our mom-"

"Still doesn't change what she did and is still doing. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay, Prim? I'm really tired and today is going to be exhausting"

"Okay then," she yawns, "I love you Katniss, and we miss you so much"

"I love you too, Little Duck," I smile at nothing. "Good night"

I fall asleep as soon as my eyes close but after what seems like a couple of minutes, I open them again, awoken by hushed shouts from Gale and Madge.

"He fucked up big time, Gale! She has her dad's blanket out, do you know when she gets that out?! Never!"

"I don't know what to do, Madge!"

"Snap his fucking neck, that's what you'll do or I'll do it for you!" She notices that I'm no longer sleeping and comes to my side at once, hugging my tightly. "I'm so sorry, Katniss, this is all our fault"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Katniss, for how I acted last night" Gale joins in with the apologies then kneels in front of me. "Peeta's gone out to buy food, he doesn't even-... We've packed your bags and they're already in my truck. I'll take you back to your dorm before he comes back so you don't have to deal with his sorry ass"

I look at Madge, then back at Gale, completely shocked.

"O-okay? Let me take a shower-"

"No, I don't want you to even look at the jackass, we need to hurry," Madge spits, full of rage.

Before we can move, the door opens and Peeta comes through with grocery bags in his arms. He doesn't even notice me as he walks to the kitchen, to put away what he bought.

"Guys, tell me when she wakes up?" He says without tuning around. "I bought her strawberries, grapes and apples, they're her favourite right? Oh and Madge, does she put the milk in first ou the tea?"

He finally turns around and when his eyes meet mine, he freezes. I smile and it's like he comes back to life, racing towards me. Madge, however, steps in his away, crossing her arms and staring him down with all the fury she can manage. He looks around her and at me.

"I brought fruit to make you salad and homemade pancakes... I don't know how to make your tea so... But I saw that your face cream was running so I brought some more... I'll be right back," he runs into his room and just as quick comes back, all the blood drained from his face. "Y-your bags, they're gone"

"Uhuh"

"You're leaving," he runs a hand through his hair then scratches it violently.

"You actually thought she was going to stay?" Madge laughs, then continues to glare at him.

"Baby-" Gale tries to say something but Madge switches her glare to him.

"Don't you dare defend this asshole in front of me," she says through her teeth.

"Katniss, I-I'm sorry," Peeta apologises, looking defeated.

"Let's go," Madge pulls me from the recliner but Peeta rushes towards me but Madge stands between us again. "Try to stop us and I swear to god that I will slice you open!"

"Baby!" Gale shouts, torn between his best friend and his girlfriend.

This is exactly what he didn't want and exactly what has happened.

"I'm okay Madge," I put a hand on her shoulder and smile.

"What?" Gale looks at me, wanting to smile.

"Peeta brought back two girls last night, so what? It's his place, he can screw who he wants," I shrug.

"Are you being serious?" Madge asks, not believing a word I say.

I roll my eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I look at the clock and sigh, it's almost after three. "I'm gonna have a shower. It's late and I have to unpack, do my hair..."

"So, I'm forgiven?" Peeta croaks, looking even worse than before.

"You didn't have anything to apologise for in first place," smiling, I walk past him and straight into the bathroom, sliding down onto the cool tiles of the floor.

I've probably pissed off Madge in a million ways but I promised Gale, and a promise is a promise.

As I turn on the shower head, someone knocks on the door softly.

"Mockingjay?"

"What?"

"I've brought you some clothes and stuff you forgot," he says already opening the door.

"Thanks, leave them by the sink please"

He places them on the sink then I hear him breathe in deeply.

"Are you gonna stay?"

"Well, yeah, I did lose a bet right?"

"If I said it was off, would you leave?"

"I don't live here, silly, so yeah," I chuckle but tears burn in my eyes.

"Okay, it's still on then," he sighs, hitting his head on the door. "I was so fucking pissed off when I heard you list off everything wrong about me that I just couldn't take it. But when I woke up and remembered what I did with those girls, then I saw you curled up on that recliner... I'm so sorry"

"I didn't mean to hurt you," I mutter, disappointed in myself for not thinking about how he felt listening to what I said.

"I know, but what I did, it was wrong and now I've fucked up our friendship, like I do with everything else"

Tears fall freely from my eyes and are washed away by the hot stream of the shower.

He opens the door to leave but I call him.

"Hey Peet?"

"What?"

"Promise me two things?"

"Okay?"

"Try to cut down on your drinking and never drive in that state again?"

After a minute, he replies with a sigh.

"I promise, Mockingjay," he says, shutting the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

With one last flick of my mascara, I stand back and look at myself in the mirror with a smile.

"Mockingjay? Are you ready?" Peeta asks after knocking politely on his bathroom door.

"Uhuh," I say as I open the door and step around a gaping Peeta.

"You look beautiful"

"Thanks," I mutter, looking down at my turquoise skater dress with the sides cut out and playing with my thick gold bangles. "Have you see my-"

Peeta holds up my black platform heels and I take them with a smile of thanks. Grabbing my purse, I push on my stud earrings and out of his room.

"Are you trying to make Darius drop dead when he sees you?" Madge laughs, approving my outfit.

I roll my eyes and follow them downstairs and into Gale's truck. When we're inside, I look at Peeta and smile.

"Your not looking too bad yourself," I whisper to him, complementing his white shirt and jeans combo.

He chuckles and tries to hold my hand but I discreetly move it so it's out of his reach. All of a sudden the atmosphere is tense and suffocating in the spacious car.

We pull up to the overflowing Frat House, where dozens of cars decorate the outside. Groups of college students walk towards the party from all directions and even more spill out from cars. Me and Madge cling onto each other as we walk around discarded red cups, following the guys into the House.

Peeta brings me a cup of beer and leans down to whisper in my ear.

"Don't take anything from anyone except me and Gale. I don't want you drinking something that's been spiked"

"I'm not that naive, Peeta," I roll my eyes, taking a gulp from the beer.

An hour goes by and Darius still doesn't arrive, so I lean against one of the walls and watch Madge and Gale, smiling at how much fun my best friend is having. Peeta leans beside me and holding his hand out.

"Dance with me?"

"No, thanks"

His face falls in disappointment so I quickly make an excuse.

"I-I'm just so tired, I didn't sleep right last night in that damn recliner," I try to laugh it off but his face falls even more.

"Please dance with me, Mockingjay?" He takes my hand and squeezes it gently, I'm almost about to say yes when I spot Darius coming towards me.

"Katniss! You came!" He shouts over the loud beat of the music.

"Of course! I said I would!" I shout back pulling my hand out of Peeta's.

"You look incredible!" Darius leans down and kisses me on the cheek, making me blush.

"Thank you! You do too!"

He then looks over at Peeta and nods at him in acknowledgement.

"How's it going Peeta?"

"Fine," he answers, his jaw clenched and body tense. Peeta looks at me once more before walking off into the crowd.

"Did I interrupt something between you two?" Darius whispers in my ear so he doesn't have to shout over the music.

"No, no, he's just being Peeta," I laugh, putting the cup to my lips and taking a sip.

"So you two didn't come together?"

"Nope"

"That's good," he smiles, "wanna dance?"

"Um, can we get some air instead?"

Darius holds out his hand and I take if with a smile. We walk through the masses of people and up the flight of stairs to the top floor and into the balcony. The early October wind that blows my hair around my face, raising goose bumps on my arms and legs. As soon as Darius sees this, he shrugs off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders.

"Thank you," I gush over his act of kindness.

"No problem," he rests his fore arms on the railing and chuckles. "The guys are sure are gonna have a hard time cleaning all this up"

I laugh, all around are glass bottles, cans, cups, along with vomit, food packets and whatnot.

"The guys? Aren't you helping too?"

"Ah, the advantages of not living in the house finally pay off"

"Really?" I say, joining him with leaning on the railing.

"Yeah, it's a great environment and hanging out with the guys never gets old but I need a place where I can study so," Darius shrugs, looking down at me.

"Hmm, let me guess... Med school?" I laugh.

"Wrong kind of school, I'm more of a law man," he winks, nudging me with his elbow. "I'm trying to get into Yale's law school and I know this is going to sound so weird but, there's so much injustice in the world but if I can change a tiny bit, I guess that's enough right? Plus, I've always looked up to my dad"

"Your dad's a lawyer?"

"Judge"

I whistle and he laughs, shaking his head.

"You know what kind of judge I wanna be like?" I look up at him and raise my eyebrows for him to carry on. "Judge Judy"

Slapping my hand over my mouth, I burst out laughing at his choice of idol.

"Please, explain?"

"She's a no-nonsense, fact finder, and strong woman. I admire that, probably that's why I like you," Darius winks and I roll my eyes, blushing at his compliment. "I'm being serious! Who in the world can put Peeta Mellark in his place but you?!"

"Oh come on," I mutter, keeping my eyes on the people walking out of the part below us.

"I've known the guy since freshman year in high school and there is not one woman that can talk to him like that, it's pretty admirable"

I push him lightly and laugh.

"I guess I'm just the first girl that isn't into him that see's him as a friend and nothing else. Everything I do with Madge, I do with Peeta, go out, watch movies, eat, study and argue. Nothing to it"

"Well, that's certainly good to hear," he smiles at me, making my stomach tie up in knots, we talke for a while longer then looks out towards the brightening sky and the groups of people walking out of the House. "Seems like the party's over"

"Yeah, I should go look for Peeta so he can take me home"

"I could take you home?" He scratches the back of his head and half-smiles at me, "if you don't mind?"

"I would like that," I say, playing with the tips of my hair. "I'm kinda staying with Peeta at the moment, I'm guessing you know where he lives...?"

"You're living with Peeta?" Darius raises his eyebrows in disbelief when he asks.

"I lost a bet, so I have to live with him for a month"

"Still just friends?"

I nod.

"Then, don't worry, I'll take you to Peeta's apartment"

I smile at him briefly before running down the stairs at full speed and straight to Madge. Not long after that, Peeta is by my side.

"You guys can go, Darius is taking me home." I say to Madge and watch as her eyes light up and a full spread forms on her lips while Peeta's mood only sours.

"Well look at you, you little sneak! Already have the guy wrapped around your finger," Madge teases, laughing at reaction which consists of an eye roll.

"You can't be serious?" Peeta rots the mood with his tone of voice.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I cross my arms over my chest, ready for the killjoy that is Peeta Mellark.

"You think I'm going to let some guy who you just met take you home?"

"If I recall just a couple of weeks ago you were some guy who took me home"

His mood goes from bad to abysmal and I can see the anger in his eyes when he looks at a shocked Madge then back at me and pulls me to a corner.

"Peet, please don't start, I'm-" I try to calm him down but he cuts me off ready to blow his fuses.

"What if he tries something with you? How am I supposed to protect you!?" He grabs my arm, raising his voice.

I twist my arm out of his grip and push him away, infuriated by his attitude.

"Since when have I needed you to protect me? I am not yours to protect Peeta, and I've done a freaking good job of protecting myself long before you came along," I say through my teeth, my voice so fierce it could kill.

He remains silent with his jaw clenched.

"Darius is a great guy, plus he's taking me home, not to a damn foreign country," I mutter rolling my eyes but he snorts at me in the most irritating way he possible can.

"If he grabs you in the car and tries something on you, don't you come crawling to cry to me about it"

I'm too shocked to reply.

Peeta runs a hand through his hair and sighs, knowing he's gone too far.

"Just-just promise me that if he makes you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, you will tell me?"

"Sure, I promise but you really need to quit it with this whole protective older brother crap," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Trust me, that is the last thing I wanna do," he smirks at me just as Darius appears beside Peeta holding his hand out towards me.

"You ready?" Darius asks with that sweet but sexy smile.

I nod, taking his hand and ignoring Peeta's clenched jaw and death stare. We walk out of the died down party and to the sidewalk were dozens of cars were still parked. Darius pulls out his car keys and presses them, making his expensive car flash the taillights twice.

"Let me guess, this car is the love of your life?" I laugh as he holds the door open for me to get in.

"No, it's just a car, the love of my is the woman that will swap her last name for mine"

I bite my lip to keep the smile from forming on my face at his response as he walks around his sleek, silver Audi. He clicks on his seat belt and smiles at me.

"What are you plans for tonight?"

"I don't have any," I reply with a shrug.

"I'll pick you up at seven then?"

"Okay, yeah"

He places his hand on mine that rests on my lap and drives me home, keeping in the speed limit and stopping at all the red lights. Darius parks next to Peeta's bike, gets out of the car and walks around it to open the door for me. He holds my hand again as we walk up the stairs to the apartment door. Brushing back a lock of hair, Darius kisses my forehead gently, re-awakening the butterflies in my stomach. I lean back on the door and smile.

"Sleep well," he whispers in my ear.

"You two-"

My back loses it's contact with the door when Peeta opens it suddenly. He catches me in his arms before I can fall on the floor. Furrowing his eyebrows, Darius looks at both of us. I untangle myself from Peeta and take I step away from him while he remains in his impassive mood, staring down at Darius who only chuckles like he couldn't give a rats ass.

"You should be more careful, Mockingjay," Peeta says, looking at me concerned, his expression finally softening.

"Mockingjay?" Darius asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's a nickname he gave me when we first met for which I still don't know why," I mumble, feeling, for the first time, awkward with the nickname.

"I'm gonna love hearing about it tonight," he chuckles, winking at me. "See you later, Katniss"

"See you later, Darius," I try to walk out with him but Peeta blocks my path, slamming the front door the second Darius leaves. I roll my eyes and walk off. "Don't start, Peeta"

"He's going to hurt you," he sighs, following me into his bedroom.

"No he's not, he's a nice guy and even if he does, I'm a big girl, I can handle it," I balance on one leg, trying to take my heels off. Peeta offers his hand to help me keep balance, I take it and remove my shoes easily.

He throws off his shirt to a corner of the room and unbuckled his belt, letting his jeans fall down. I look away, feeling embarrassed, I can feel him roll his eyes. Grabbing some shirt off the floor, I go to the bathroom and change into it, then come back out and Peeta is still standing in just his boxer briefs. I slide into bed, with my back turned to him and after a while, he slides in with me. His hand slowly makes it's way across the bed and comes to a stop on my hip. I move my it but he places his hand right back.

"I lost a fight tonight," Peeta whispers in the darkness.

"Why?"

"Wanted to make sure you came home safe"

I sigh and turn around to face him.

"Peeta-"

"No, Mockingjay, I felt guilty for what I did last night, I couldn't just leave you"

"But I've told you that I'm okay with it, I don't mind. Now, please shut up, I need to sleep," I turn my back to him and close my eyes, waiting for sleep to take over. However, it's not long before Peeta's moving his hand to hold mine.

"It's funny, I thought it was going to be bad this morning when you woke up and hated me for what I did, but it's worse to wake up and know that you don't care"

I grit my teeth, completely annoyed at him and his double meanings and false signs.

"You don't want a relationship with me but you don't want me to say that I don't want a relationship with you and you're upset because I don't care that you had sex with those girls last night but don't want me to be mad at you? Peeta, what the hell is your problem?"

I pull my hand away from his.

"If you don't care why did you sleep on the recliner? And not here, with me?" He whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

"Because it didn't feel right, how would you like it if I had sex with a guy then came and slept beside you not even five minutes after?"

"I don't know how you found out what I said to Madge but I said it because I was trying to get it in my head. To convince myself," he says, running both his hand through his wavy, blonde hair.

"I'm way too tired to try to understand what you just said Peeta. Good night," I mumble, pulling the covers right around myself.

"Are you really going on a date tonight with Darius?" He murmurs.

"Yes"

Peeta throws back the covers and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I roll my eyes, already getting used to all his door slamming and wondering how he doesn't break them.

Peeta's side of the bed is cold when I wake so, meaning that he didn't come back after storming off for no good reason. I look at the digital clock and gasp when I see the time, it's four o'clock in the afternoon and I'm still in bed. Grabbing all the essential stuff, I rush into the bathroom and hop in the shower. Five minutes later, someone knocks on the door.

"Came to apologise for being a child last night, Peeta?"

"It's Madge, actually, I need to use the bathroom," she shouts so I can hear her.

"You and Gale have your own bathroom, use it!"

"Nah, I feel like using this one," she laughs when she opens the door and shuts it behind her. "So Darius, huh? You really like him?"

"Uhuh," I hum, getting fed up of telling people that I like the guy.

"It's just a same that you and Peeta couldn't work out, I-"

"There was nothing to work out between me and Peeta, anyway it doesn't matter anymore," I grab my towel and wrap it around me tightly.

Madge sighs and walks out of the bathroom, leaving me to get ready. I take my time fix myself up for the date with Darius. I paint my nails blue to match my blouse and apply red lip stick to contrast against my black leather skirt but then I wipe it off, feeling too showy. When my nude heels are on, I stand in front of the mirror and begin to feel my stomach tie itself up in knots. However, the queasy feeling isn't fully due to nerves towards the date, it's towards Peeta. I start to feel guilty, he doesn't want me to go on this date for some crazy reason and it looks like I'm just rubbing it in his face by walking past him looking like this. I take a deep breathe and bring a brush through my hair, that falls naturally down my back. When I'm done, I walk out and into the living room where Gale, Madge and Peeta are sitting, watching TV.

"I think I'm starting to get used to this dolled up version of Katniss," Madge laughs then Gale whistles, also approving of my outfit.

"You look perfect, Mockingjay," Peeta smiles from his spot of he coach. I look at him in shock, expecting anger, jealousy even, but not the kindness and warmth I'm getting from him.

Before I have time to question yet another extreme mood swing, the door bell rings. When I open the door, Darius is standing behind it, in a shirt and tie, holding flowers, exactly how I needed him to be, the opposite of Peeta Mellark. He looks at me and grins, forming those adorable dimples in his cheeks.

"You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," he hands me the flowers and I take them, blushing at his gesture and compliment.

"I'll put them in a vase, Katniss," Madge says, also grinning behind me. I hand her the flowers and take Darius' outstretched hand. "You kids have fun!"

We laugh and head straight to his car, and like last time, Darius opens the door for me and helps me into the car. He parks in front of a high rated restaurant and smiles at me, before getting out and opening my door.

"Wasn't it hard getting a reservation? I heard this is one of the best restaurant in the area," I ask him as someone directs us straight to our window seat, and from the looks of it, the best seat in the whole place.

"Nah," he shrugs but I look at him with my eyes brows raised in disbelief and he chuckles, "my parents co-own it, so it wasn't that hard"

"Oh," I say looking around at all the finely dressed women dripping in jewels and feeling like a pauper in my skirt and top. We order our food and Darius asks the waiter for a wine I've never heard of.

"Okay, I'm going to confess something," he raises his hands in the air, "I was pretty nervous about picking the girl Peeta Mellark is in love with at his own apartment"

"He's not in love with me," I laugh, shaking my head.

"That's not what the guys at the frat said to me. Actually if I can remember, they said that I was signing my death by doing it. Peeta has been acting weirder than usual so the only explanation is that he like you"

"Well it's not true, he had sex with two girls two nights ago, that pretty much proves how he feels. He can't even stand to be in the same room as me at times," I sigh and smile at him. "Can we not talk about Peeta tonight?"

"Sounds perfect"

The rest of the meal goes by quickly. Darius is hilarious, making me laugh at everything little thing and we talk about everything, from the food to our favourite movies. He pays for the food and we walk out, holding hands and smiling.

"I'm sorry this date was so short, I really wanted to take you out on a date but I have a test on Monday," he apologises with a sad smile.

"It's okay, I had fun," I say, keeping the disappointment out of my voice.

"But, is it too early to ask you out again?"

I shake my head and he raises my hand and kisses it softly, smiling.

We walk up the stairs in silence and stand awkwardly, wondering if the other is going to kiss you. Before

I can let out a nervous giggle, Darius pulls my hand and places a soft kiss of my lips. He pulls back quickly to see my reaction, when he sees that I'm smiling, he kisses me again, this time slower, more precise.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he murmurs, resting his forehead against mine.

"Okay," I breathe, calming my erratic heart.

"Sleep well, Kat"

Darius walks away to his car and I lean back on the door, sighing in happiness. Once again, Peeta opens the the door, making me fall back but catches me before I do.

"Kat? What kind of nickname is that?" Peeta snorts, holding me as I take my heels off.

"Mockingjay? What kind of nickname is that?" I mimic his tons of voice.

"It's original for one, and it's a beautiful bird with a beautiful voice, just like you"

I laugh and walk to the bedroom, with Peeta following me. He sits down the edge of the bed as I walk into the bathroom to change into my pyjamas, when I come back out, he's staring at me.

"What it is?" I cross my arms.

"How was it?"

"It was amazing, he was amazing, perfect, even," I bite my lip to keep from smiling like an idiot.

"Did he kiss you?"

"Yes, his lips were so soft and it felt so nice," I sigh, falling beside him on the bed.

He scrunches up his nose in disgust, making me laugh.

"Too much information that I don't want to know"

"I was nervous though"

"And so you should be, kissing Darius"

"Shut up," I laugh punching his arm gently, happiness overflowing in me from the date and now from mine and Peeta's regular good-natured banter.

"Are you going out with him again?" He ask, taking off his clothes as I tuck myself in.

"Yeah, he going to call me tomorrow," I smile to myself, glad that he can't see my face.

Peeta huffs slightly irritated and walks into his bathroom to brush his teeth.

"If you liked the date so much, how come you came home so early?" He asks, coming out of the bathroom.

"Because he had to study for an exam," I say defensively.

"Should his girl come first though?"

"We went out of one date, I'm not his girl and he's trying to get accepted in Yale"

"Typical"

My phone rings, stopping me from verbally attacking Peeta.

"Hello?"

"It's tomorrow," I hear Darius laughs from the other end of the phone.

"So it is," I laugh, looking at the clock on Peeta's nightstand.

"How about Monday night?" he asks cheerfully.

"Sounds great"

"I'll see you then, sleep well, Kat"

"You too, Darius," I smile then end the call.

"You couldn't be more of a girl even if you tried," Peeta rolls his eyes. "But I like seeing you happy, and as long as this guy makes you happy, I'm okay with it"

I hug him in happiness and lay back down, feeling exhausted. The bed sinks as he slips in beside me.

"Do you like him, Mockingjay?" He murmurs.

"Yes, I really do Peeta"

He snorts and shakes his head in what can only seem like disbelief.

" _Fucking Darius_ "

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of your kind words have warmed my heart. Tysm.♡


	6. Chapter 6

The date on Monday is even better than the first. Darius takes me to a Mexican restaurant and pays a mariachi band to serenade me, making me blush seven shades of red in embarrassment. Then he drives me home and tries to steal a kiss but Peeta opens the door before he can, smirking, knowing that he purposely made it awkward. On Wednesday, Darius takes me out again but this time, he doesn't try to kiss me at my door, he kisses me in the car, a place where Peeta can't interrupt us.

At lunch, after walking me from my class, Darius takes Peeta's spot near me at the table, who when comes in after smoking, glares at him but takes a seat away from us without any drama. I begin to breathe out in relief but something feels wrong. Looking over at Peeta, I see him ignore a girl, who's clearing throwing herself at him, then I listen to everyone around me and notice that there barely isn't anything to listen to. All their attention is on us.

"Katniss?" Darius says, breaking my trance.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said, I guess I'm not going to get invited then"

"To what?"

"To your birthday party?" He laughs.

"I'm having a birthday party?" I ask, completely surprised.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Madge mutters awkwardly, keeping her eyes down. "It was Peeta's idea really"

Casting my eyes over at him, Peeta's glare intensifies, then he catches me looking at him and shrugs.

"Now, I'm definitely not invited, I didn't mean to ruin the surprise," Darius apologises, looking like a hurt puppy.

"Yes you are,  _I'm_  inviting you, I want you there," I place my hand over his and kiss his cheek but the tense atmosphere in the cafeteria is unbreakable with all eyes on us. Darius notices this and clears his throat awkwardly.

"I need to go revise some stuff before class," he stands up and kisses me on the lips, "I'll call you later, Kat"

"Okay," I watch him walk away then turn back to a near silent cafeteria. I bite my tongue and stab my chicken with my fork in anger at everyone's concern with my life.

"Hey!" Madge shouts, clapping her hands, "how about everyone mind their own damn business!"

"Thanks," I murmur to Madge, still keeping my attention on my food as surely but slowly conersations start back up again. "I just don't get why they keep looking at me"

"They're saying that you're jumping between Peeta and Darius"

"What!? You don't believe that right?"

She remains silent.

"Are you kidding me, Madge?" I hiss, not believing what I'm seeing.

"Katniss, I-"

I don't want for her to finish, I stand up and walk straight to Peeta.

"I need to talk to you," I scowl, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Then talk," he says, not even looking up at me.

Gritting my teeth, I grab his arm and pull him out of the cafeteria. My nails dig into his arm and he mumbles about it but I ignore him.

"You need to call off the bet"

He looks at me, then at my hand, then back at me.

"Why?" He says, clearly hurt.

"Because, people think I'm toying you and Darius and he thinks you're in love with me"

He looks at me shocked, then looks back inside the cafeteria. Peeta pulls out a packet of cigarettes, takes one out, places it in his mouth and lights it. After taking a long drag, looking like he's thinking about something and turning his head to puff the chemicals out, he smirks at me.

"No," he breathes out the smoke.

"What?"

"A bet is a bet"

"But Darius-"

"Stop seeing him then," he shrugs, not giving a damn.

"Hell no," I spit through my teeth, infuriated at him for even suggesting it.

"Look, Mockingjay, I only have three weeks left with you. After that you'll date Darius, he'll go to Yale, you two will get married, have perfect babies and I won't ever see you again. So scowl all you want, my little bird, you're not getting out of this bet so easy"

"Fine," I growl and push past him to get to class.

Later that night, I stand in front of the mirror brushing my hair into a high ponytail, thinking about Peeta's reaction to me not wanting to live with him anymore. More so, how he didn't deny that he's in love with me. Madge holds out my red lipstick and smiles.

"Put this on. Now"

"But Madge, I don't feel comfortable-"

"Katniss, do you want Darius to look at your lips and feel compelled to kiss you all night or not?" She smirks.

I roll my eyes but put it on anyway.

"Perfect," she grins like a proud mother and hands me my shoes.

"Hey Mockingjay?" Peeta pops his head in the gap between the door and its frame, "Do you wanna go out to eat something tonight? Just the two of us?"

"Can't, Darius is coming to pick me up"

"Again?" He says angrily.

"Yes, again," I reply happily, then brush past him to grab my purse just as someone knocks on the front door. I speed walk towards the door and swing it open with a smile.

"Have you ever been something other than stunning?" Darius half-smiles then kisses my cheek.

"You should've seen her the first night she came here," Peeta snorts, throwing himself on the sofa and crossing his hands behind his head.

"Funny because you said you liked it," I snap at him.

"Funny because you said you didn't care," he smirks, looking at me cockily.

I sigh.

"We'll go out tomorrow night, I promise, Peet," I say in hopes that he will stop with the attitude.

"Really?" He looks completely taken back by what I said but the corners of his mouth lift, forming a smile.

"Uhuh," I hum, smiling at him, "I'll see you when I get back. Oh and thank you for organising the my birthday party"

Darius raises a brow at me when I shut the door behind me and walk with him to his car.

"We've been fighting a lot lately, I just want to do something to lighten the mood," I shrug.

"So I shouldn't be worried?"

"Not the tiniest bit," I smile at him, kissing his cheek.

At dinner we follow our usual routine of talking about everything, Yale, music, vacations and places we want to go. Half way through the meal, Darius sets his knife and fork down to hold my hand.

"What's wrong?" I ask, biting my lip.

"Is Peeta taking you to the party?"

"I dunno, why?"

"I'd like to take you"

"Okay, sure, but I'll have to ask him since he organised it and everything..."

"Seems fair," he smiles and carries on eating his food.

Darius pulls into the parking lot, and kisses me goodbye. However, this kiss seems different, the way his lips linger on mine, like he's asking permission to carry on. When I don't do anything to stop him, he moves his hand onto my face and pulls me in for a longer kiss. My arms circle his neck as we pull each other closer. I can feel Darius move his other hand up my thigh, squeezing it when he reaches the top.

"I've been thinking of doing this all night, your lips looked irresistible," he murmurs against my lip, I give out a weak whimper as he traces the delicate skin bellow my jaw with his lips.

"It took you long enough," I breathe as I move so my back is pressed against the window that's all steamed up from our heavy breathing.

A heavy thumping sound on the window, makes us both jump back in shock. I straighten my skirt and Darius tries to wipe my red lipstick of his face. The passenger door opens, revealing a worried Madge and a furious Peeta.

"What the hell, Peeta!" Darius shouts, getting out of his car.

"We need to speak to you, Katniss," Madge says quickly, looking between me and Darius.

"What?"

"Just get out of the car Katniss!" She shouts and when I do a she says, Peeta kicks the car door shut, almost breaking it.

The level of danger around was rapidly escalating. I have never seen Darius even raise his voice before let alone look so angry. Madge puts her hand on Peeta shoulder but it doesn't nothing to calm him down, he just continues to clench and unclench his fists staring at Darius.

"I think it's a good idea if you leave, I'm sorry," I say slowly to Darius, trying to defuse the situation.

"Fine, whatever," he spits, gets in his and speeds off, making the tires squeal without another word.

"You can go now Madge," Peeta says through his teeth, without taking his eyes off me.

I finally understand why Madge is here. She's keeping him calm so he doesn't do anything stupid. Well too damn late.

"No," she refuses and grabs my hand, "let's go Katniss"

"I said go," he holds my other hand, "me and  _Kat_ , need to talk"

I narrow my eyes at him.

"It's okay Madge, I'll be up in a minute"

She looks between us then walks off, leaving the two of us fuming.

I wait for Peeta to start shouting at me but all does is light a cigarette and take a long drag. He repeats this several times, each time adding to the rage that is bubbling inside of me. When he throws it on the floor, stepping on it and the looks at me mirroring the anger in my eyes, I explode.

"Why did you do that?" I keep my voice low and deadly.

"I could ask you the same thing,  _Kat_ ," I can feel the venom dripping from his words.

"Don't call me that"

"Oh, but  _Darius_  can. You know what else  _Darius_  can do? Grope you in front of my fucking building!"

"I may be living under your roof, but that doesn't mean you can control what I do!" I yell, letting it all out. "What I do with Darius-no take that back, what I do with  _anyone_ , is none of your concern!"

"He was going to fuck you in his damn car! You are so much better than that, Mockingjay!" He yells right back, his whiskey drenched breath hitting my face.

"Oh my God! It's called fooling around Peeta! It's what people in a relationship do!" He looks at me completely lost and I face palm. "Yes Peeta, I'm not the kind of girl that you are used to that just opens her legs like its nothing! That's a huge step for me!"

"Yeah, right!" He snorts, shaking his head.

"How could you say that! I've never even-! You know what, forget about it," I shout, walking past him but Peeta grabs my hand and pulls me back to face him.

"What do you mean you've never-" his eyes go wide and a Cheshire Cat grin spreads across his face. "Mocking, are you a...  _Virgin_?"

Feeling my face burning, I remove my arm from his grip and scowl.

"Madge was right," he says in between fits of laughter, "you won't weren't gonna do anything. Why? Because you're a virgin!"

"You jerk, it's not  _funny_ ," I growl through my teeth.

"Have you even had a boyfriend before?" He wipes tears that have fallen from his eyes from laughing so much.

"Yes, I have, not that it's any of your business, but we did stuff but never got around to doing  _it_ "

"Virgin," he sighs happily, shaking his head.

"Stop being such a jackass and let's go," I grab his arm and pull a near clambering Peeta halfway up the stairs until he trips and falls. "Damn it, Peet"

Slipping off my heels before I break my ankles, I throw his arm over my shoulders and heave him the rest of the way to his apartment. I kick the door open in hopes that Gale or Madge could help me out but taking into consideration that the living room and their door is shut, I'm going to have to do this on my own. Peeta is still chuckling about our conversation when I drop him on his bed but as he falls, he tightens his arm around my neck, consequently, pulling me down with him. Our faces are only inches apart, when Peeta tries to kiss me, but I turn my face. However, instead of being hurt, he only chuckles and moves his hand down my back to the zipper of my skirt.

"Now that I known you're a virgin, I feel like god has given me a mission," he murmurs in my ear, slowly undoing my zipper.

"I don't think that's god talking, I think that's just you," I laugh.

"It's just made you even more irresistible than before"

"Weren't you ready to kill Darius because you thought he was going to do the same thing?" I try to push myself off him but he just pulls be right back down.

"I don't give a shit about Darius," Peeta moves his hands further down to the backs of my thighs and squeezes them, making me gasp and slap him.

"How much have you had to drink?"

"Enough"

But from the way his eyes are glazed over and how his whole body smells of alcohol, Peeta drank way more than just enough.

I finally manage to catch him off guard and push myself away from him so that I'm kneeling by his side. Lifting his shirt over his chiseled abs, I start to undress him.

"Yes, now this what I'm talking about," He laughs, lifting up his arms so that I can take his shirt off completely and start on his jeans. Peeta tries to sit up but I push him back down, causing him to burst out laughing. "How did you know I like rough sex, Mockingjay?"

"Shut up, Peeta"

Standing up when I'm finished, I sigh, feeling slightly out of breath. I wait for him to make some sexual comment but nothing happens, just the steady rise and fall of his chest. I roll my eyes; the guy's out like a light.

Undoing the rest of the zipper of my skirt and pulling off my shirt, I undress myself and throw the outfit in the pile of dirty laundry by the bathroom door. I rummage through the chest of drawers that now contains both mine and his clothes, when Peeta circles his arms around my waist and buries his face in my hair.

His lips make a soft trail from the edge of my jaw to my shoulder. Then he traces his fingers around to my hips, pressing his against my backside, proving how much he desires me by his hardness.

My mind is racing, but my body, it's frozen in place. Unable to resist what he's doing to me.

Peeta turns me around to face him and looks at me, his black pupils consuming the brilliant blue. I've seen him look at women before, many times, but never has it been like this. Never have I seen the pure need and hunger in his eyes. His lips are so close to mine that I can feel the heat radiating from then, but doesn't make a move to press them against mine.

Just as I'm about to lean forward and kiss him with all my want, he holds my face with both his hands and sighs sadly, pressing his forehead to mine.

"I want you so bad," he whispers, utterly defeated, "but not like this. Not this way"

He kisses my forehead softly, then tumbles onto his bed.

Finally, after what seems like forever, I no longer feel paralysed but soon wish back the feeling as guilt, embarrassment and an drop of anger fill it's place. I grab whatever shirt I can find, yank it over my head, grab my dad's blanket and storm into the living room and onto the recliner. I toss and turn, unable to get to sleep as so many emotions bubble inside of me. How could I let it get that far with Peeta and do that to Darius? Why didn't I want him to stop? Why did Peeta wait until I was starting a relationship to show any interest in me?

When I wake up, the sun is starting to peek out of the horizon, making the sky a bluish pink so I decide instead of going back to sleep, that I should clean the kitchen, that's overflowing with dirty dishes. With my earphones in and my music loud, I zoom through cleaning in the kitchen, then I risk it and clean Peeta's room. I fold, dust, and brush the whole room without Peeta stirring once.

Wiping beads of sweat off my forehead, I pull out my earphones and notices the noises coming from Gale and Madge's room, making me feel incredibly awkward. I grab a towel and head to the shower, in hopes that they will hear me and quiet down. However, they don't seem care as they get louder and the bed starts banging on the wall. I slap my hand over my mouth to hold in my laughter at the sound of I can only compare to cat meowing after being injured. Stepping out of the shower, I hear someone knocking on the door so I wrap the towel tightly around my body and run to answer it, nearly slipping over a few times.

"Darius? What are you doing here?" I say when I open the door and see him smiling from ear to ear.

"I came to apologise for how I reacted last night and to give you this," he holds out a small black velvet box with a red bow tied around it. "Open it, I wanna see your reaction"

"Darius..." I gasp as I open then velvet box that protects a delicate silver bracelet that wraps itself around tiny emerald stones.

"You told me you loved the colour green," he says taking it from the box and clipping it around my wrist. "Perfect"

"I can't accept this from you, we-"

He stops me from talking by kissing my lips.

"Nope, don't want to hear it. It's worth it, even walking around for hours was worth it"

"Hours?" I gush.

He nods and lifts the hand that wears the bracelet to his lips.

"I have to go, my parents are expecting me for lunch, but, happy early birthday, Kat," he smiles at me and I smile right back. "Wear it tomorrow?"

"Thank you so much," I kiss his cheek, "and of course I will"

He smiles at me one more time before hurrying down the stairs. I shut the door and lean back on it, when Madge walks out of hear room, hair in a complete mess from her recent activity.

"Who was that?" She asks, pulling out a mug from the cupboard.

"Darius"

"This early? What did the poor guy want?"

"To apologise for last night and give me this," I lift my wrist lightly, worried that any rash movement would break the beautiful bracelet.

She comes rushing to my side and grabs my wrist the squeals.

"Take back what I said about him being poor! Ohmygod! Katniss! He gave you a gemstone bracelet! You two have only been going out for a week!"

"I know..." I whisper, still not believing myself.

"We have our own little Aphrodite here! Jesus!" She laughs, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my god," I gasp, feeling incredibly guilty about last night.

"Have you two gone crazy or something?" Gale grumbles, walking out of his bedroom.

"No, but Darius has! Look what he's gotten Katniss for her birthday!" Madge squeals pushing my wrist towards her boyfriend.

Gales eyes nearly pop out of his head when he makes out what Madge is on about.

"Did he-" he begins but Madge cuts him off.

"Yes! He freaking did!"

"Wow," Gale breathes, scratching the back of his head.

As if on cue, Peeta comes stumbling out of his room looking like death.

"Has anyone told you guys how loud you are?" He moans, holding his head as he makes his way to the kitchen and fills up a cup with juice, spilling some on the counter that I recently just cleaned.

I pull my wrist from Madge's hand and cross it over my body.

"My god, which one of you let me drink so much last night?" Peeta grumbles, leaning on the counter.

Madge snorts then rolls we eyes.

"You did? After buying a bottle of whiskey and downing it after Katniss left for her date with Darius"

"Oh yeah, how did it go, Mockingjay?"

I laugh hurmourlessly.

"You  _are_  kidding, right?"

"What?" He asks, confused.

"Peet, you  _kind_   _of_  nearly started a fight with Darius after you pulled Katniss out of his car when you caught them fooling around..." Madge giggles and goes to stand beside Gale.

"Shit, did I really do that, Mockingjay?" He rubs his forehead, trying to remember last night's events.

"Yeah, you did," I scowl then storm past him into the bedroom.

"Mockingjay, wait!" He shouts, stopping me from slamming the bathroom door in his face with his hand. "I'm sorry!"

"What the hell does it matter Peeta!?"

"What else did I do?"

"You honestly don't remember what you did? What you said?"

"Fuck, did I say something that hurt you?"

"Get out. It doesn't matter," I growl, infuriated.

Peeta turns around, ready to leave but then stops. He looks at his bed, then at the chest of drawers and his fingers clench around the door knob.

"Did we-?"

"Of course we didn't," I cut in, fed up of all of this crap.

"You were taking too long to come in..." He whispers to himself, furrowing his brows as he swims through his vague memories. "The windows were steamed, you told me you... You helped me into bed then..."

I go stiff and my heart feels like it's going to break through my chest as realisation hits Peeta, hard.

"You didn't say no," he murmurs, taking a step towards me.

"I was in shock," I defend myself lighting quick.

"You were angry because I didn't remember not because I ruined your date..."

"No! I-I... Urgh!" I bring my hands to cover my blushing face.

"What's that?"

"Huh?" Then I remember the shiny bracelet on my wrist.

"When did you get that?"

"Today"

He raises his brows for me to explain further.

"Darius gave it to me this morning"

Peeta's features turn cold and angry as his eyes stay locked on the bracelet.

"It's not even your birthday"

"Yeah but he wanted to give to me today, so what?" I cross my arms over my chest.

" _Fuck_ , what are you doing to me?" Peeta says under breath as he runs both hands through his head then holds my face after looking after me in just a towel. "What are  _we_  doing, Mockingjay?"

I look into his deep blue eyes, then down at the tattoos that cover his body and back up at his eyes that never left mine and shrug.

"You tell me"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! My laptop screen broke but I took it to the store to fix it... However they didn't tell me when it would be ready so, I don't know when the next update will be... I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Katniss?" Gale shouts from the other side of the door.

"Yeah?"

"Madge is going out to the city today and she wants you to go with her, are you in?"

Sighing, I look at Peeta, who's still holding my face in his hands, looking at me with anguish in his eyes. 

"Yeah, give me ten minutes to get ready," I shout back, trying to move away from Peeta but he holds my hand, not letting me go. "I promise we'll take about this, Peet, just not now"

He reluctantly lets go of my hand and I rush out of the tiny bathroom. I know I have to talk to him about what the hell is going on since I can't keep making excuses for the next two weeks but right now, I just don't have the energy or the want.

Quickly, I pull on some clean clothes and brush my hair in record time to join Madge at the front door. She drags me from store to store trying on clothes and even making me try on some as well. We make a pit stop at an upscale boutique where Madge insists I buy an extremely short and tight, floral dress with long sleeves and then carry on our trekking. After what I can only call as an eternity, Madge skips into a salon, dragging me behind her.

During our adventure, my mind kept spinning, trying to come up with an answer not for Peeta but for me. What am I doing? I keep telling myself that Darius is the right person for, that he's stable and predictable, exactly what I need but that doesn't silence the tiny voice in my head, screaming that Darius maybe be what I need but not what I want. With each guy, I'm a different girl; with Darius, I'm kind and controlled but with Peeta, I'm wild and completely unpredictable.

A hand touches my arm, making me jump in surprise.

"What's on your mind, Katniss? You're even more uninterested in what I'm saying than usual," Madge laughs.

"Nothing, I'm just in my own world, that's all"

"Does that world consist of Darius and Peeta?"

I shrug and go to put my fingers between my teeth then remember how pretty the woman painted them and put my hand back down.

"You already know what I think about this whole thing," Madge mutters, keeping her eyes on her feet where another lady is polishing and painting her toe nails.

"Yes, I do and you already know what I think about that"

"For god sake, Katniss, not every guy you meet is going to be like-"

"No, I know Darius isn't but Peeta's a different story. Plus, I don't think Peeta even knows what monogamous means, let alone be it"

"Maybe if you gave him a chance, he would"

"Maybe I don't want to risk it"

"But you feel something towards Peeta, and he feels something towards you," she whines like a child.

"Well you're wrong"

"Am I? Because I know how Peeta feels Katniss and he really likes you. So just admit it dammit! You two keep skipping around your feelings, worried that you might get hurt but it's hurting you anyway! Why are you making this so freaking complicated?!"

I shrug making Madge huff and roll her eyes, giving up.

"Trying to reason with you is like trying to reason with a bull"

"It's a family thing," I mutter under my breath with a shrug.

With our bodies waxed, nails painted and hair smooth, we slide into Madge's car but instead of heading in the direction of the apartment, we take the opposite road.

"Um, Madge? Why are we going this way?"

"Gale asked me to meet him at the House because he's at some meeting with the guys"

"Oh, could you just drop me off at the apartment?"

"And leave you to your thoughts?" She laughs and shakes her head. "Anyway, I don't feel comfortable being the only girl at a frat house, have you seen the way Finnick looks at me?"

She shudders dramatically, making me laugh then smiles at me.

"But it won't be long right? I promised Peeta we'd go out for dinner tonight"

"Nope, won't take long at all," she bites her lip and parks the car in front of Gale's frat house. I wait for her to unlock the doors and get out of the car but she just takes a deep breath and drums her fingers on the steering wheel. Normally I would question her odd behaviour, but I just shrug and playing with the gems on my wrist. Madge's phone pings with a new incoming message and exhales smiling, then exhales and unlocks the car.

"Let's go!" She says excitedly.

"Madge, is everything okay? You seem all over the place?" I ask hesitantly, following her up path and couple of steps to the House.

"Me? Yeah, everything's fine," she replies, ringing the doorbell.

We wait for a while but no one comes, we don't even hear a gruff voice from one of the guys.

"Maybe they-"

I'm cut off when the door flies open revealing all of my friends and classmates along.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATNISS!" They choruses loudly.

My jaw drops as I look around the inside of the house, it's covered in balloons, birthday banners and coloured paper hanging from the ceiling. Peeta emerges from the middle of the crowd and engulfs me in a warm hug, lifting me up and twirling me around.

"Happy Birthday, Mockingjay," he whispers in my ear before putting me down.

"I can't believe you did this," I say still in shock.

"You deserve this and much more and we had to make some adjustments since the initial surprise was ruined-"

"It's perfect, Peeta, thank you," I kiss his cheek to stop him from rambling.

One after one, each person at the party hugs me and wishes me a happy birthday, with smiles on their faces.

"Happy Birthday, Brainless," Johanna kisses me on the lips and laughs at my uncomfortable reaction.

"Okay, okay, now let's get this birthday dressed up!" Madge shouts, excitement reaching it's maximum.

"I can't believe you managed to keep this from me," I laugh as we pull on our dresses for the night. "Hey, where's Darius?

"Neither can I," she laughs along with me and we walk downstairs to my party. "And he's coming by later"

I begin to dance with Peeta but Thom pulls me away and into the kitchen, with a grin on his face. I look back, expecting Peeta to be furious, and throwing punches but he's following me, chuckling. Thom gets out tiny shot glasses from the cabinet and places them on the counter, filling them up with pure tequila.

"Nineteen shots for nineteen years. Every time you down one, you get one of these," he pulls out twenty bucks and slaps them on the table. "You can get other people to do them for you but then you get no cash, sweetie"

I look over at Madge with a raised eyebrow and she slaps her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter.

"How about fifty bucks each and I'll do fifteen?" 

"How about, twenty bucks each but when you get to fifteen, we'll double it," he laughs, cockiness taking over reason.

"Oh, you're on," I say, grabbing two cups and downing them both, before slamming them on the counter and laughing at Thom's shocked expression. "Better keep that wallet out, sweetie"

"Don't worry! We have a whole football team betting against you!" Thom shouts as I walk off to dance.

I jump, sway my hips and swing my head from side to side in beat with the music. Halfway through a song Peeta joins me and sings along to the modern rock song, mouthing the lyrics to me. Three tiny cups of tequila later, and me and Johanna are grinding against each other next to a grinning Peeta, when the door opens.

"Darius! You came!" I squeal running into his arms feeling Peeta's eyes burn into my back.

"Hey, Kat, happy birthday," he says, kissing my forehead. "You're wearing the bracelet"

"Of course! Let's dance!" I try to pull him but he remains in place.

"I'm not a very good dancer," he looks around the room at everyone and furrows his eyebrows.

"Come watch me do shots then," I smile at him as we walk past the dancing crowd and into the kitchen. "Every time I take a shot, I get twenty dollars, and if I get to fifteen, the guys will double it"

"Fifteen?" He asks, slightly shocked.

"Don't worry, I'm used to tequila, my uncle's an alcoholic," I wink at him but he just looks at me even more shocked than before. "It's our way to cope with things"

I grab a shot and tip it back, feeling the tequila burn it's way down my throat and grab the money from a reluctant Thom. Not giving a chance for Darius to say no, I pull him to dance with me but soon realise what he was talking about. He steps on my feet three times before I stop him from dancing and just grind against him.

"I told you, I'm a terrible dancer," he says near my ear as he awkwardly tries to move to the music.

"No, you're doing great," I lie, trying to get into dancing with him.

After two more songs, Darius guides me to a corridor then presses me against the wall. He leans down and kisses me, moving his hands along my body. However, it's not like it was last time, where it should feel great it feels wrong. When Darius tries to put his tongue in my mouth, I gently push him away.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asks, face flushed.

"No, it's just, I thought it maybe kinda rude if I was making out in a hallway while my friends are out there," I shrug feeling uncomfortable and a tad claustrophobic.

"You're right, sorry," he kisses my forehead then plays with the bracelet he gave me,"I just wanted to give you an unforgettable kiss before I leave"

"You're gonna leave? Already?"

"Katniss, I have to get up at 4 and catch a plane," he brushes a lock of hair behind my ear. "I'm going hunting with my father, but tomorrow, I'll come pick you up and we'll have a special birthday dinner at my house. I'm cooking"

"That's perfect"

"See you tomorrow, Kat," Darius kisses me gently on the lips before leaving.

"The killjoy is gone!" Peeta shouts, raising his beer, "time to turn the music and fucking party!"

Everyone shouted in agreement and Thom turned up the music as requested. Peeta flings his arm around my shoulders and takes me to the centre of the dance floor. 

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes upon," he murmurs in my ear after twirling me around.

"Thank you! Hang on, I'll be right back!" I shout in his ear and he raises a brow. I grab his hand and pull him to the kitchen. Peeta tips back a shot and I follow suit, he slams the tiny cup on the counter and smirks at me. I laugh and grab another shot and tip it back, shaking his head and chuckling Peeta does the same thing. Thom slides two twenty dollar bills across the counter and I take them with a smile on my face.

"Seven more to go Everdeen," he winks at me and I laugh.

"Bet you wish you'd never made this bet!" I say, dancing over to Madge who's slut dropping all over the place.

We move to the beat of the music, then Madge squeals and jumps onto the sofa bringing me with her. We sing the song to each other and when the beat drops we jump and swing our heads to the beat. In my drunken state, after swinging and jumping for a couple of seconds, I lose my grip on the sofa and fall back but before I can make contact with the floor, Peeta catches me in his arms. I looking up, I'm hit with the light blue of his eyes, that hold me in a trance. With his arms tight around me and his face so close to mine, there's only one thing on mind. However, before that tiny voice in my head from earlier can control my entire body, I push myself away from him.

"More tequila!" I squeal and stumble into the kitchen, with Peeta hot on my heels.

"I think you've had enough, Mockingjay," Peeta says softly, taking the shot from my hand.

"No! Give it back!" I pout, ready to throw a tantrum, "I have six hundred bucks waiting for me at the end of this!"

"If you need money-"

"I'm no charity case! I'm gonna earn this shit," I grab the small glass of tequila and tip it back, my lips and teeth already feeling numb.

For the next few songs I dance with everyone and take more shots. I grind with Johanna, fist pump with Gale, jump around like teenagers with Madge and a few girls from my classes and sway my hips with Peeta. When Finnick Odiar tries to grab my waist to dance with me, Peeta pulls the hem of my dress, almost squeezing my ass, and shakes his head at a chuckling Finnick who just turns around and dances with the first girl he sees.

"It's almost midnight!" Madge sing songs loud enough for everyone to hear, then everyone starts counting down and when they reach one, Peeta lifts me up and spins me around.

"Happy nineteenth birthday, my little bird," his lips linger on my forehead when he kisses me and the whole party starts singing happy birthday, however, instead of saying my name at the end of the song, everyone shouts Peeta's nickname for me.

"Are you sure you want to do this, brainless?" Johanna laughs as we all gather around the three remaining shots. "Getting your stomach pumped on your birthday isn't the best way to celebrate"

"She's right, Mockingjay, you've proven yourself, you don't have to do this," Peeta holds my hand and rubs small circles around with his thumb.

"Please," Madge snorts, "she's got this"

And with that I grab two cups and tip them back, feeling the burn going down my throat but also feeling the burn come back up. I squeeze my eyes shut and will the vomit to go back down.

"She's losing it!" Finnick shouts excitedly.

"No, she's not. C'mon Katniss, breathe," Madge soothes me, rubbing my arm with her hand.

I hold up one finger and push down the burn in my throat then slam my hand down on the counter, smirking at everyone. Thom slides the last shot across the table, I take the last shot, swallow the alcohol and slam the cup down, shaking my head. Everyone erupts in cheering and shouting as the football team dish out their wallets and pass money around to Thom.

"I cannot fucking believe I lost fifty bucks to a girl," Finnick groans when I take the money from Thom and stuff it between my boobs.

"Better believe it, Odiar," I chuckle as Peeta pulls me against him.

"You're so fucking sexy right now," he whispers against my ear, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

"Shut up and let's dance," I giggle, blushing bright red.

The tequila running in my veins frees me from all my thoughts and makes me forget the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm sorry if there's any mistakes in my grammar or spelling, I uploaded this from my phone. My laptop will be ready next week but I wanted to put this chapter online soon for you guys! Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

The pounding headache and my aching back are the first things I feel when I wake up. Then my eyes flutter open and I register my surroundings. I'm in Peeta's bathroom, my head's resting against his chest, and towels and blankets are thrown all over the place with the strong smell of vomit. I wipe my eyes, smudging my mascara even more around my eyes and hands. Slowly, not to make any sudden movement and start puking again, I drag myself up to the mirror. From my reflexion, I would've made any zombie run for their money. Deep purple and black circles surround my eyes that contrast with the paleness of my face and the brown tangled mess that is my hair.

"Katniss?" Peeta says quickly, waking up from his sleep and looking around for me desperately. 

"It's okay, Peet, I'm here," I reply, trying to tame my hair.

"Damn, woman," he chuckles and when he stretches I hear all the bones in his back protest as they crack from being pressed against a wall all night. "You straight out beat me in drinking, me!"

"I'm used to it," I shrug, finishing tying my hair up in a braid.

Peeta is suddenly my by side and holding my face in both his hands.

"You may be used to it but I'm not. So please, don't ever drink like that again" 

I try to look down and summon some form of anger at his demanding and overprotective way, but he lifts my face so he can look and me and kisses my forehead, quelling my attempt. 

"Thank you," I whisper, twirling my braid around my finger, "thank you for such an amazing birthday party and thank you for holding my hair back and staying with me, I owe you"

"Um, then you can pay me back by not lashing out and not getting mad"

"What?" I step away from him and narrow my eyes.

"Gale and Madge had a nasty fight last night and Madge drove off to the dorms alone"

"You let her drive alone! When she was that drunk?"

I forget how sweet it was of Peeta to stay with me while I disposed all the tequila from my body when I storm out of the bathroom and head straight to Gale, who's on the sofa with his head in his hands.

"What did you do to her?" I spit.

"We were all drunk, Katniss, I didn't mean what I said," he mutters, completely defeated and carries on explaining himself when I don't say anything. "We fought because I thought it was wrong of her to encourage you to drink that much. I thought we were going to have to take you to hospital, but she kept telling me you were fine so I started shouting and then so did she. Fuck, I called her some stuff that I can't even repeat aloud"

"You idiot," I say under my breath, "I can't believe you guys let her drive like that. She could've seriously hurt herself!"

"Go easy, Mockingjay, we were all pretty out of it," Peeta hands me my phone, already opened on Madge's number.

I take it from his hand and walk into his bedroom, shutting the door behind me for privacy.

"Hello?" Madge answers after the second ring.

"Hey, how you doing?" I ask, concerned for my friend.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she croaks, sounding sleepy.

To anyone she honestly sounds okay, but when you've been through so much with someone, you know just by the way they breathe that there's something wrong.

"What happened last night? With you and Gale?"

"Don't even get me started"

"Why don't you pick me up so you can bitch about him?"

"Katniss, I don't want to see him"

"I'll make him stay in the apartment"

She sighs.

"I'll be there in five"

I'm finishing cleaning up the mess I made in the bathroom when I hear two quick honks from outside. After taking a quick look out of Peeta's bedroom window to check that it's really her, I grab my phone and wallet and rush out of the apartment, but not before Gale stands in my way, blocking the door.

"Is that Madge?"

"Yes, but she doesn't want to see you and honestly neither would I so move," I say, pushing him out of the way. I turn back and look at Peeta who's tapping away at his phone. "Do not let him out of this apartment"

He looks at me then at Gale, then shrugs. I roll my eyes and almost make it to Madge before Gale comes flying down the stairs and makes a beeline for her car. Madge rolls up the windows and turns up the music that was playing softly in the background so loud that it vibrates the car. Gale carries on banging on the window until she rolls it down along with the music and starts shouting at him.

"C'mon, Mockingjay, let's leave them to it," Peeta tells me, coming to stand my by side and laces his fingers through mine, leading me upstairs.

"I told you not to let him out of the apartment," I mutter, scowling at him.

"I'm sorry, Mockingjay, it's a bro code thing," he says, sitting down on the sofa.

"Bro code thing? What bro code thing?"

"Let's just say, if it was me and you in their situation, he wouldn't stop me"

I roll my eyes.

"Please, are you honestly comparing how Gale feels towards Madge with how you feel towards me?"

Peeta puts his hands behind his head and smirks while shrugging. I'm about to question him further when Gale comes storming in.

"What the fuck is wrong with women?" He grunts irritably, walking straight to his room.

Without another word, I leave the boys and get in the car with a fuming Madge.

"What the fuck is wrong with men?" She growls then speeds off as soon as I click on my seatbelt.

I chuckle at hers and Gale's choice of words but when she looks at me with eyes that could kill, I swallow my laughter and try to keep a straight face.

"So, what happened between the two of you last night? And I'm sorry I didn't go home with you," I say and Madge shrugs, keeping her eyes on the road.

"You were in no state to come home with me," then she snorts and rolls her eyes, indicating that her rant is about to start. "He called me stupid and also said I was being a bad influence by making you drink that much. Me? A bad fucking influence? For making you drink? Did I get the shots and tip them down your throat? Not that it fucking matters because I've seen you drink so much more than that with Cato"

"Can we not bring him up?" I mutter, feeling a jab in my heart and a weight on my shoulders.

She snorts and shakes her head, making me feel smaller than anything.

"Give me a break"

I look at her wide eyed, completely taken back by her comment.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snap, not understanding why I'm on the receiving end of her rage.

"What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you? Peeta throws this amazing birthday party for you and you sneak off with Darius to make out? Then you don't want people calling you the slut and game player and that you're jumping between guys. Darius is the definition of perfect yet you still don't like him enough to move out of Peeta's apartment!"

"Me and Peeta have a bet, you know I don't go back on bets! Why the hell are you attacking me, Madge?"

"I call bullshit, Katniss, if you really liked the guy you would've moved out like this-" she snaps her fingers, "bet or no bet and I'm not attacking you I'm prying open your fucking eyes"

"I don't need this," I scowl, looking away from her.

"Yes you do. I'm so sick of this going back and forth. Peeta likes you so much yet you keep pushing him away and forcing yourself onto Darius!"

"You know why I am! Cato and Peeta are the same! They are dangerous, violent and angry people! I don't need that in my life, that is exactly my I left my family, why I left my Prim. I left to get away from all that bullshit before it got too intense and I got in too deep!"

"Peeta isn't the fucking same as Cato! Are you blind?! Peeta takes care of you, he makes sure you eat everyday, he counts your antidepressants everyday to check that you're really taking them, he stopped fighting, he won't go anywhere unless you go with him, what else does the guy have to do!?"

"You should be keeping me away from him"

"I promised Haymitch that I would keep bad things away from you. Peeta isn't a bad thing! He won't lead you to that dark place that Cato did!"

I don't reply, not wanting to say something that I will immediately regret, so we remain in silence as Madge drives mindlessly around the city. After a while, when we've both cooled down from our hot headed argument, I turn to say something to Madge and see the tears streaming from her eyes, smearing her perfectly done make up.

"Madge," I sigh, holding her hand as she stops at a red light.

"I'm sorry," she sobs, wiping tears with the back of her hand, "I'm sorry for being a bitch, I'm sorry for snapping at you, I'm sorry for being such a bad friend"

"You're not a bad friend, or a bad influence. Gale was drunk and didn't mean what he said, he just wants to apologise"

"I doubt he will even look at me after what I said to him"

"He loves you so much and I know you love him too. You guys can sort this out"

"You're right," she sniffs, wiping her nose on her sleeve then turning the car around.

I don't even get a chance to try and convince Madge to go upstairs to Gale and apologise when we pull into the parking lot. Madge barely turns off the car before Gale is racing towards us, opens then car door and pulls her into his arms.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he repeats into her hair.

"Shhh," Madge holds his face in her hands then kisses his lips softly, "we were both hot headed and didn't mean what we said"

I shake my head and chuckle at the two love birds as they make up with kind words and gentle touches.

"Remind me to put some testosterone in his cereal," Peeta mutters in my ear, making me jump about five feet in the air.

"Holy crap, you're an idiot," I exhale, putting a hand to my heart as Peeta guffaws behind me.

"I've been called worse," he smirks, taking my hand and leading me upstairs. "I know you're probably exhausted but before you crash on my bed, can you open my presents first?"

I pull him to a stop in the middle of the living room.

"You bought me presents, with an s?" I gush, blushing at his gesture.

"Yes but they're not emerald bracelets worth millions," he shrugs, looking embarrassed.

"Hey," I smile up at him, "I love whatever you got me already"

"Okay," he smiles crookedly at me and we walk into his bedroom, where two wrapped boxes sit on his bed, "This one first"

I carefully unwrap the small box that fits in the palm of my hand to replaced a small jewellery box with golden carvings. I click open the elaborate wooden box and the content leaves me speechless.

"I found this pearl on a family holiday to the beach," Peeta explains, taking the thin golden chain from my hands. "I wanted to give it to my mom but she told me to keep it, and give it to someone who was as special as this pearl then to make it even more for you, I added the mockingjay"

"I-I don't know what to say," I whisper, holding the small pearl and bird in my hands.

"Don't say anything then, just let me put it on you"

I turn around, gathering my hair at the top of my head and let him clip the necklace around my neck. The small golden bird, only little bigger than the pearl, rests perfectly just above my heart.

"Thank you so much," I blush, playing with my braid.

"It's not finished yet," he chuckles, moving back to get the other wrapped up present. This one, unlike the necklace, is wide and thin. I rip some of the wrapping paper and look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"A painting?"

Peeta doesn't reply, he just smiles crookedly as I finish tearing the paper apart and gasp.

It's not just any painting. It's a painting of me. Peeta Mellark has painted me. On the canvas, I'm sitting cross legged on his bed, wearing one of his shirts, smiling at him. I'm wearing my glasses, my hair tied into braid and just above my shoulder there's a little bird, my mockingjay.

"How..." Is the only word I manage to form in my mouth.

"All those times I told you I was going to train for fights?" He laughs taking my hand in his.

"This is amazing, I never knew you could paint..."

"Im a man of many hidden talents," he winks and pulls me close to him so that he's resting his chin on my head. "I know it's not much-"

"It's perfect, so beautiful," I interrupt him, "you painted me, Peeta and got me a hand made necklace that I love so much. That is worth millions more than any gemstone bracelet could."

He kisses my head then let's me go to put away the painting so it won't get damaged while we sleep. I pull back the covers and change into one of his shirts before tucking myself in.

"I'm sorry you had to stay with me last night," I mumble into the darkness as he slips in beside me.

"What are you talking about? That was one of the best nights of my life"

Laughing, I turn and face him.

"Holding my hair back as I expose the contents of my stomach, which mainly consisted of tequila, was one of the best nights of your life? You sir, are a terrible liar"

"Are you kidding? You say the most adorable things when you're drunk, plus having you in my arms the whole night totally out ruled the projectile vomiting"

"I didn't projectile vomit!" I gasp, slapping his arm.

"Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little," he chuckles then sighs contently, "was still one of the best nights of my life though"

"Whatever," I say with a roll of my eyes and turn my back to him, to fall into a deep slumber.

"Katniss, if you don't get up now you're going to be late!" Madge shouts, banging her hand on the door.

"Okay! I'm getting up!" I croak whilst rubbing my eyes.

I look over at the digital clock next to Peeta and gasp at the time. I have slept over fourteen hours. Peeta groans beside me as I throw the covers back and run into the bathroom. With such little time, I only brush my teeth and throw on the first pair of clothes that I can find before yanking a brush through my hair.

"Katniss!" Madge shouts again, angrier. "I'm leaving!"

"No wait! I'm coming!" I reach for my backpack on top of Peeta's desk but it's completely empty. With a groan, I get on my hands and knees and start moving and throwing around clothes in search of my text books.

"You used a different bag to school on Friday and left it in Madge's car," Peeta grumbles with an arm over his face. "And why are you rushing? I can take you to class"

"Thank you for reminding me about my bag but I don't want to come close to death so early in the day with your awesome driving"

"Then just miss a class?"

I turn around slow and look at him with wide eyes causing him to laugh, a laugh that makes shivers run down my spine and the corners of my mouth to turn upwards.

"I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to for a moment," Peeta chuckles and I throw whatever I can find on the floor at him.

"I'll see you at lunch," I roll my eyes and run out of the apartment as Madge's honks impatiently.

My classes go by sluggish, every second my eyes droop further and my stomach grumbles louder. When I finally get dismissed from class, even the oil bathed cafeteria food and their syrup like coffee seems like the light to my darkness. I speed walk towards the mouth watering scent, already tasting ketchup and fries when Peeta comes sprinting in my direction with worry etched on his face and Gale right behind him.

"Mockingjay... There's something... I need to... Tell you...," he pants, holding his stomach.

"What? What is it?" I frantically look between the two.

"There's a rumour going about me and you," he says, furrowing his eyes brows, and reaches out to hold my hand.

"Peeta, sweetie, they've been going round since you laid eyes one me, it's okay," I smile and roll my eyes trying to walk away but he pulls me back.

"No Katniss, this one, it's... Different," Gale explains awkwardly, "it's about you and Peeta, but also Darius..."

"What?!" I spit, wide eyed, pulling my hand away from Peeta as if I just got electrified.

"They are saying that you and Darius hooked up at your party and then, uh, you and me, um, did the same thing," Peeta looks at me and I realise that it's the first time he has ever looked nervous.

I sigh and shake my head, chuckling.

"Mockingjay?" Peeta asks, confused by my reaction.

"Thank you for being worried about this rumour, but like I said it's okay," I shrug and offer them both a small smile.

"What? You're not gonna freak out over this? What happened to self-conscious Katniss?" 

"She met you, and learnt not to care about what people say"

"But I don't want everyone to think low of you because of me"

"It's not your fault, Peeta, I'm honestly okay with this," I reassure him, putting my hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I need to eat something before my stomach it's itself"

He carries on looking at me thoughtfully then turns and storms into the cafeteria.

"I'm guessing he told you about the rumours?" Madge says, coming behind me and I nod in agreement.

"I feel sorry for the bastard that's gonna say something to him," Gale mumbles after kissing his girlfriend.

"Or her," Madge mumbles back, forgetting that I am in full hearing capacity.

The whole place quiets down as soon as I take a step inside. Hushed whispers are the only thing to be heard in the cafeteria as I make my way to my usual spot on the table with my food. However, me and my friends act normal and ignore all the glances and raised eyebrows. Until Finnick Odair comes along that is.

"That sure was an awesome party you threw, Peet," he says cockily, swing an arm over Peeta's shoulder, who remains impassive to Finnick's presence. "And you! Who knew you were a sexy drunk!"

"Odair, shut up," I warn, watching as Peeta clenches his jaw and screws his eyes shut, clearly trying to control his anger.

"But I can't! Where's the sign up sheet Peet? I want to be next in line to be with-"

And that's when Peeta snaps. He elbows Finnick in the chest, knocking the air out of him and making him fall to the floor. Peeta than grabs him by his collar and starts punching the guy's face, each blow deadlier than the other. Finnick tries to raise his arms to protect himself but the damage is already done to his face. What surprises me the most is that no one, not even Gale or the football team steps up to stop the two. I can't take another second more of Finnick's pleading to stop and blood spurting everywhere, so I jump over the table and grab onto Peeta's shoulders trying to pull him off a mangled faced Finnick.

"Peeta stop, that's enough! Please stop it!" 

But he doesn't.

"PEETA STOP!" I scream, slamming both my first on his back with all my strength. 

He stills, fist in midair, ready to connect with Finnick's face. He drops the guy with a thud, stands up and walks out, leaving everyone speechless. Gale comes to life and sprints after his bestfriend, leaving me and Madge to deal with a bloody Finnick. We help him up and sit him down on a chair. His football team surrounds us as we examine his used-to-be-pretty face, his nose is definitely broken, his eye is going to swell from all the cuts around it and there is a possibility that his jaw is also broken by the way he holds it and groans.

"That crazy motherfucker," he curses quietly, then looks at me, "I'm sorry Katniss, I only meant it as banter"

"I know Finnick," I turn to a stunned Thom, "take him to the hospital, he's gonna need more than stitches-" then I turn to Madge, "call Gale, we need to find Peeta"

"What? No! Are you crazy? Did you just witness what he did here?" She exclaims, gripping my arm.

I'm about to reply to her but I notice all the eyes trained on my back and think twice. So instead I narrow my eyes at her and walk outside, pulling her along with me.

"He needs me, Madge, he only stopped when I called his name," I tell her once we're away from the curious crowd.

"He beat Finnick senseless in a matter of five seconds! What if he loses control with you!" 

"You said he wasn't like Cato, let him prove that to me now," I say, holding onto her hands, pleading her to trust me.

"But right now? I promised Haymitch I'd keep you safe"

"And you have, and will. Nothing will happen. Now please, just ring Gale and find out where they are"

She looks at me, completely conflicted, then sighs and pulls out her phone. After a quick conversation with her boyfriend, we find out that they are at the apartment so we run to Madge's car and speed off in record time. Just as we arrive, Gale comes running down the stairs and looks at Madge, then at me.

"He doesn't want to see-" Gale begins but I roll my eyes and walk straight past him. He grabs my arm but the look I give him makes him release me immediately. 

"Peeta?" I call out, pushing the door to the apartment open. No one answers so I step in and see that the whole place as been turned upside down. The coach cushions have been thrown all over the place, the kitchen island chairs are all tipped over and a new crack has appeared above Peeta's bedroom door where he slammed it too hard.

Knock, knock.

"Peet?"

Knock, knock.

"I know you're in there"

Thump, thump.

"I'm gonna come in whether you want me-"

"Leave. I don't want you to see me like this," I hear him grumble from the other side of the door.

I roll my eyes and push open then door and find that his room is just as bad as the living room and kitchen. I step around the books, clothes, chair, cover and pillows and sit crossed legged on the striped down mattress. Peeta is sitting in front of me, also crossed legged with his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, keeping his head down.

"For what? Defending me? I should be thanking you," I chuckle, pushing his arm playfully.

"How Katniss?" He looks up at me and the pain I see in his eyes shocks me to my core, right along side the now drying up blood splattered over his face. "People are calling you all sorts of things because of me, your boyfriend thinks you've cheated on him because of me, now, I've beaten someone nearly unconscious in a fit of rage because I fucked up"

"It is not your fault that people let their imagination run wild and there are now-"

"Darius came over last night," he says, his deep blue eyes holding mine in place. "He came into our room and saw us in bed together, I could've explained to him that it wasn't what he thought but I didn't want to. I let him think that we slept together, Mockingjay. I wanted him to get mad, I still do"

I stay silent, processing this new information so he carries on talking.

"I'm so angry all the time, so closed off, so arrogant but when you sleep beside me, you give off this peace, and serenity that I don't understand but I want to soak it all up and have it as mine. I was doing just that when he walked in, I was watching you sleep and running my hands through your hair," he snorts and puts his head in his hands. "And when Finnick insinuated that there was a line to sleep with you, that he wanted to sleep with you? Ha! I just lost it, I can barely keep it together knowing Darius wants you, I can't control myself knowing that there is more guys out that want to have sex with you, because... I just want you all to myself"

In a feeble and spontaneous need to protect Peeta from himself, I sit beside him and circle my arms around him. 

"Why aren't you mad at me? Or even scared?" He grumbles angrily, pulling at the gold locks on his head.

"I guess it's because rumours are meaningless unless you choose to accept them. I know what happened, you know what happened and if Darius really knows me, he will too," I mutter into his shoulder.

"I never wanted you to see that side of me"

"I know, but it's better that I see it now than later. This won't ruin our friendship, don't worry"

"Friendship? Are you even listening to a word I'm saying, Mockingjay?" He question me, completely astonished.

"What do you mean?" I ask, completely confused.

He chuckles humourlessly and shakes his head then engulfs me in a warm hug.

"Nothing"

I mull over our conversation to see if I missed anything but come up with blank, confused by what he said. We stay like this for a good while and just as the sun begins to disappear into the horizon, I hear Madge from the other side of the door.

"Katniss?" She says hesitantly after two small knocks.

"It's okay, come in Madge," Peeta replies, none of us moving an inch.

As soon as the door opens, her expression goes from worried to ecstatic from seeing me and Peeta wrapped around each other whereas Gale remains by the door, perplexed.

"We're going to eat at the Red Dragon, you guys wanna come?" Madge says excitedly, looking between the two of us.

I look at Peeta and make a face and he needs nothing else to understand what I want.

"You guys go ahead, me and Katniss are gonna order in some pizza"

"Well, you kids have fun," she sings songs, pulling a undignified Gale and closing the door behind her.

"Meaty lovers with extra cheese?" Peeta asks, breaking our embrace to reach over and grab the phone.

"It's like you're reading my mind," I chuckle, releasing my hair from the tight braid from this morning.

"Hey Katniss?" He calls out and I pop my head between the bathroom door, with a raised eyebrow. "I like it better when you have your hair down"

I shake my head and roll my eyes at his comment and step into the shower.

We eat my favourite type of pizza and watch some cheesy reality show on E! whilst drinking beers. Then we watch a comedy movie that Peeta seems to know like the back of his as he mouths along to all the jokes, wrapped around a blanket on the sofa. Half way through the movie, Madge and Gale arrive and head straight to their rooms, continuing to leave me and Peeta alone. We watch a couple of sitcom reruns then head to bed as well. In the darkness of the room, I can feel Peeta move around on the restlessly, then he sighs and runs both hands through his hair.

"There are only two weeks left," he whispers into thin air.

So that's what's bothering him.

"I know," I agree with him.

Silence.

"How much more drama can we cause in two weeks?" He chuckles.

"Taking in our histories, there are endless possibilities," I laugh,

Silence.

"Do you trust me, Mockingjay?" He turns to face me.

"With my life," I reply, without missing a beat and thoroughly scaring myself. 

"Then come here," he pulls me into his chest and holds me tightly. I go as hard as stone unused to so much intimacy, but with the steady beat of his heart, thumping right beneath my ear, I relax and soon am hugging him too.

I could lie and say that I'm doing this for Peeta, that I'm doing this to make him feel better but that's not true. Because, I like the way he makes me feel more like myself than I ever have with his strong arms keeping me from the outside world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for all your kind words, they warm my heart and make me smile. ❤️


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Highly recommend listening to the song Katniss sings in this chapter when she sings it and until the end of the chapter. The song is Love Out Of Lust by Lykke Li

Johanna taps a manicured finger on her red lips, deep in thought.

"So who was balls deep in you again?" She asks, teasing me.

"No one Jo, Darius won't answer my damn calls or texts or emails so I don't even know anymore," I sigh, rolling my eyes, exhausted with the whole situation. "And as you know, me and Peeta are just friends"

"Tell that to all the people thinking that you two have some sort of no strings attached/besties with benefits thing going on," she mumbles after placing a cigarette between her lips and lighting it up.

"Honestly? I couldn't give two shits"

The newly lit cigarette almost falls to the floor when Jo's mouth pops open.

"W-what was that I just heard," she gasps, the corner of her lips lift in a ear splitting grin.

I shrug and lift my chin in pride.

"I gave up in caring what people thought, I'm just gonna do what I want and let them gossip, it wont make a difference whether it's true or not"

She let's out a cloud of smoke through her mouth, still smirking.

"Good, because laughing at your 'innocence' and 'purity'-" she uses her fingers to mark the air quotes, "was losing it's edge"

"What are you talking about?"

She snorts and rolls her eyes at me.

"Please, like I couldn't smell you off a mile away"

I keep quiet so she carries on talking.

"The cardigans, the sophisticated and polite lady that you are when you're around Darius, screams 'I'm hiding something'," Johanna takes one more drag from her cigarette then throws it on the floor and steps on it, "So what's your secret, Everdeen?"

I laugh, shaking my head.

"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you," then I sigh and go to twirl my braid in my fingers but stop myself. "It's no secret, I just had Lilian Abernathy for a mother"

"At least you didn't have strict Christian parents you oppressed you in every way if you didn't believe in every word in the bible, who were embarrassed of you," she says looking off into the distance like she's watching a memory as we speak. Johanna then looks and me and laughs at my wide eyed expression. "It's true, if you want I can recite to you all the books in the bible? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth-"

"Okay! Okay! I believe you!" I chuckle, stopping her from carrying on.

"So who is this Lilian Abernathy who earned such hatred from you?"

"She's a crazy bitch who brought bad things and bad people into my life," I say with a shrug. "One of them being my ex boyfriend"

"What happened?"

"He started off sweet, kind then turn into this aggressive asshole," I sighed, having enough of this conversation.

"And when you see Peeta, he reminds you of the asshole," Johanna puts two and two together and raises her eyebrows in realisation. "That's shit"

I nod, and start walking towards the cafeteria.

"Speaking of Peeta, did Finnick press charges?"

"Surprisingly, no, he wasn't hurt as badly as I thought, he has a few cuts but only his nose is broken"

"That's  _uncharacteristically_  nice of him?" Johanna's tone raises at the end of the sentence making it sound like a question. "And the university? What did they say about his psychotic outbreak?"

"Since he has such high grades and has never been in trouble before, they gave him a warning and are making him help out around the university," I mumble, before reaching out and pulling the glass door leading to the cafeteria.

"Why don't you seem happy about that?" She smirks, pushing the door shut again and not letting me through.

"Because, what he did was wrong, Johanna and what makes it worse is that he did it because of me," I say flatly trying to keep the anger and worry out of my voice.

Last night, as Peeta lay fast asleep with his arms around me, I realised what actually happened. Something deep inside of Peeta snapped when Finnick started to tease me, something dark and violent. The look in his eyes was something that should've terrified me, however it had no effect and that's what truly terrifies me.

We grab our food and sit at our normal seats, but unlike every other day, I feel no inclination to eat whatsoever. Peeta notices this immediately and furrows his eye brows at me, putting his hand over mine.

"What is it?" He asks, giving my hand a slight squeeze.

I remove my hand from under his and push away my tray of food.

"I feel like a damn zoo animal with everyone looking at me," I lie.

He then slams his hands on the table and everyone snaps their heads to look at him. Peeta does it again but this time it sounds more like a beat than a fist slamming the table in frustration. He carries on.

_Thump, thump... Thump-thump. Thump, thump... Thump-thump. Thump, thump... Thump-thump. Thump, thump... Thump-thump_

"Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty! Take! Me! Home!" He sings, carrying on his beat alone, until Thom and Gale chuckle and join in while I remain silent, staring at him. Soon enough all the football team is singing along with Peeta.

He then pushes himself away from the table and pretends to be holding a microphone as he continues to sing.

_"Just a urchin livin' under the street,_

_I'm a hard case that's tough to beat,_

_I'm your charity case so buy me something to eat,_

_I'll pay you at another time,_

_Take it to the end of the line!"_

Peeta then jumps on the table and points to the crowd like he's some sort of rockstar.

" _Rags to riches or so they say,_

_Ya gotta keep pushin' for the fortune and fame,_

_You know it's all a gamble when it's just a game,_

_Ya treat it like a capital crime,_

_Everybody's doin' the time"_

Then the football team starts singing.

" _Take me down to the paradise city..._ " And then the whole cafeteria starts clapping in time with the beat and a group of girls join in the singing, _"Oh won't you please take me home!"_

_"Take! Me! Home!"_ Peeta leans down so that his face is close to mine and sings then he moves away and starts head banging.

I look around the cafeteria, my jaw almost hitting the floor. This all feels like something a Glee would consist of.

_"Strapped in the chair of the city's gas chamber,_

_Why I'm here I can't quite remember,_

_The surgeon general says it's hazardous to breathe,_

_I'd have another cigarette but I can't see,_

_Tell me who you're gonna believe,"_ Peeta stomps his feet on the table to the rhythm and claps his hands above his head as the crowd sings the chorus one last time.

_"Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!"_

_"Oh won't you please take me... Home!"_ He concludes, holding his fist like a microphone again and lifting his face to the ceiling.

The cafeteria erupts in applause and wolf whistling as Peeta bows and winks to everyone then jumps down from the table and takes his place beside me again. I hold my head in my hands, still in shock of he just did.

"Is everyone still looking at you?" He asks, taking a well deserved gulp of water.

"Of course they-" I stop talking when I look around and see that despite three or four envious girls, no one is looking at me. They are all laughing and happily talking amongst themselves. I smile and blush at Peeta. "Thank you"

I expect him to say something back but his jaw clenches and his eyes turn cold and fixate on something behind me. Turning around, I find Darius walking towards me.

"Hey Katniss," he says politely with a smile. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Sure," I mutter, fully aware of Peeta's glare but I just smile at him slightly and he relaxes, offering me a smirk.

"I'm sorry I haven't answered your calls or texts," he apologises, running a hand through his hair. "It's just that I like you so much and when I saw you with him in bed, I got so mad-"

"Yeah, but you know I'm staying at his place," I interrupt him, "and you want to know what really happened? Peeta held my hair back while I puked. That's it"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he takes a step closer to me and holds both of my hands. "So that's why I'm suggesting this, we wait until the bet is over, then we try again. Please?"

"That sounds like a good plan," I agree, smiling at him, forgiving his stupidity.

"Okay," he kisses my forehead then rubs small circles on the back of my hand with his thumbs, "I'll see you around, Kat"

"See you, Darius"

I watch him as he strides off with his brown messenger bag and cotton cardigan. Sighing, I turn around and come face to face with Peeta who's grin couldn't get any bigger even if he tried. He puts out the cigarette that was between his lips and throws it in the bin, before striding towards me, radiating confidence.

"I'm sorry, Mockingjay, it may hurt now but it gets better," he mocks, patting my shoulder in some sort of reassurance. "I just want to know one thing, did Mr Too-Fucking-Perfect-For-Everyone cry?"

"No, because we aren't completely over," I mumble, fingers flying to play with my braid, knowing he isn't going to react well to this.

And just as I predicted, Peeta's grin vanishes.

"What are you talking about?" He narrows his eyes and me.

"We both agreed that we're gonna wait until I'm no longer living at your place to start dating again"

"Hmm," he bites his lip then shrugs, and the smirk that I've grown to love appears on his face as he throws his arm over my shoulder and leans in to whisper in my ear, "guess I'm gonna have to make another bet then"

I laugh and shake my head at his joke. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, the corners of my lips turn up into a smile when I see who it is.

"Happy Birthday!" Prim sings into the phone and Uncle Haymitch grumbles along.

"Why aren't you at school?" I question her without even thinking.

Old habits die hard.

"Because, I-I'm at the doctors to have a blood test"

"That's a lie because you stuttered and Uncle Haymitch is there with you and he freaks out at the bare thought of blood," I say flatly, knowing that this isn't because he's squeamish but because he gets these awful war flashbacks and very literally loses his mind. "So? Where are you?"

"Tell her," I hear Uncle Haymitch's rough voice in the background.

"Primrose? What's he talking about?"

"Uhh... We're visiting mom," she mutters into the phone.

"Why?" I spit and feel Peeta's eyes lock onto my head.

"Because, she's our mom and needs our help to recover," she says through her teeth. "And don't start arguing with me, because we're all the way here in Philadelphia and you can't stop us"

Uncle Haymitch laughs and mumbles something about stubbornness and Everdeens.

"Anyway we rang to give you happy birthday yesterday but Peeta told me you were sleeping, both times, so sorry for the late birthday wishes"

"Thanks, Little Duck," a warm sort of feeling puddles in my stomach and a knot forms in my throat. "I missed you guys, you fretting over my cake and presents and Uncle Haymitch attempting to cook something for a chance"

"It's nice to know you take my efforts into consideration," he chuckles, "we missed you too, sweetheart and happy birthday"

"Thanks," I manage to choke out without my voice cracking, but a tear escapes my eye and I quickly wipe it away. However, Peeta doesn't miss a thing as he pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.

"Anyway, we've got to go, the nurse just called us up," Prim says sadly, "I love you Katniss and I can't wait for you to visit us for Thanksgiving"

"Me too, Little Duck"

"Oh and I officially take back what I said about Peeta, I like him, he sounds great"

"I think so too," I mumble into his jacket, "I love you, both of you, bye"

I end the call but keep holding onto Peeta, who only tightens his arms around me. He doesn't ask any questions, about who it was, what it was about or anything, he just holds onto me and that's just what I need.

"How about we rent some crappy comedy movie and I'll stop by the store and grab some ice cream?" He says with a smile, knowing it's my favourite.

"You spoil me"

"You haven't even see the half of it," he smirks and winks at me.

The two weeks go by in a blink of an eye. Me and Peeta are in each other's presence almost twenty-four/seven, we have breakfast together, lunch, dinner, study and sleep together. On nights where not sitting down and memorising a textbook won't jeopardise our grades and Peeta doesn't have any fights, we go out. We go to the autumn fair, where me and Peeta both win a goldfish, calling them scramble and egg then watching them swim around the fishbowl we bought on the way home. Greasy Sae becomes our go to diner, where the owner, who indeed is called Sae, learns our names and we earn her favourite costumer spot. The Flyers grow on Peeta as we watch a couple of their matches just as soccer grows on me when he insists we watch some European soccer team kick another's ass. Peeta takes me to the movies and we watch more crappy comedies, stuffing our faces with over priced popcorn and candy.

On the last day, Madge and Gale are nowhere to be found after Peeta's match, so me and him head to his apartment.

"Are we going out tonight?" I ask, dropping my bag in the corner of the room.

"Nope," he replies and walks to the kitchen without another word.

"Um, okay? I'll go and have a shower, then"

"Sure, take your time," he shouts from the kitchen.

So I do, I shampoo my hair twice, condition, shave and even exfoliate, appreciating the relatively private bathroom one last time. I wrap my hair in a towel then pull my sweats on. Grabbing my glasses from the vanity, I open the door to a heavenly smell of food.

"Oh my God, Peeta! Where did you order this food? My stomach is doing front flips in anticipation," I say, brushing my hair.

"I made it, actually," he pulls off some over mitts that I didn't even know he owned.

"You made this?" Wave my brush around pointing to the food.

"Another one of my many hidden talents," he smirks, walking by me and taking his shirt off, "I'm going to have a quick shower so we can eat"

I nod and am caught between drooling over the food, or a topless Peeta. Shaking myself from my thoughts, I set the table and wait for him to come back from his shower. He walks out, in shorts and no shirt, I cast my eyes down, trying not to stare at every dip and curve of his sculptured figure.

Peeta puts the food on the table and smiles at me with triumph.

"Large pasta shells stuffed with ricotta cheese, grilled chicken and salad," he says as he serves me, the pride in his voice evident. "Oh and remind me to do my laundry, I'm running out of clean clothes, especially t-shirts"

I smirk then take a bite and my eyes roll into the back of my head.

"Sweet baby Jesus," I moan, taking another forkful into my mouth, "this is freaking amazing, Peeta!"

"I know," he agrees cockily, also putting a forkful in his mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me that you're such a good cook!?"

"Because trusting you, if I did, you would have made me cook for you damn day"

We both laugh, and carry on eating. The conversation is of a light one, but there is a heaviness that floats a both us, knowing that it's our last night together. Peeta makes his usual jokes but they aren't as heartfelt and his eyes tell a different story to his smile. The same goes to me, I laugh along but inside, I can't deny the sadness starting to take root inside of me.

"This is fucking ridiculous," Peeta runs a hand through his hair in frustration after a moment of awkward silence.

"I know, I don't know what the big deal is, we're gonna see each other every damn day"

"It's not going to be the same," he says flatly.

I sigh in agreement and start gathering the dishes, which we wash in silence then head to his bedroom. He slips off his shorts and lays over the covers. I pull off my sweats not bothering to do it in the bathroom and he doesn't seem too bothered in how his eyes trace over every detail of my body. I then pull on my pyjama shorts and vest, before removing my bra and lay on the bed.

"Don't go," Peeta whispers, knowing I can hear him clearly.

"I was planning on moving from this spot anyway"

"Thats not what I meant and you know it"

"And live with you forever?" I laugh but when I look at him my mood drops. "I can't with you forever"

"Why not? Everything you do at your dorm you can do here, with me," he doesn't look at me when he speaks, he just carries on staring at the ceiling.

"Why do you want me to stay?"

He laughs once and I can feel him rolling his eyes.

"I think you know the answer to that," he waits for me to say something and when I don't he finally turns to look at me. "Are you really that oblivious to everything I say or do?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Forget it," he chuckles humourlessly, going back to looking at the ceiling.

"No way, now I want to know what the hell I'm so oblivious about?" I ask with frustration, pissed off at his hot and cold attitude.

"Sing to me," Peeta says, catching me off guard with the sudden change of subject.

"What? No, Peeta, I-"

He doesn't give me a chance to finish, pulling me flush against his chest.

"Please, Mockingjay?"

I try to look up at him to see his facial expression but with his iron like grip on me, I can't move an inch. So I sigh, rolling my eyes and do what he asks, singing the first song that comes to my head.

_"Rather die in your arms than die lonesome,_

_Rather die hard than die hollow,_

_The higher that I climb,_

_The deeper I fall down,_

_I'm running out of time,_

_So let's dance while waiting._

_"We will live longer than I will,_

_We will be better than I was,_

_We can cross rivers with our will,_

_We can do better than I can,_

_So dance while you can,_

_Dance 'cause you must,_

_Love out of lust,_

_Dance while you can"_

Peeta releases his arms around me and lifts my chin so that my grey eyes lock onto his blue ones. With his thumb, he caresses my cheek, while he leans down and kisses the corner of my lips. His lips linger on my skin, the heat from the gentle kiss spreading like wildfire through my body. I slowly turn my face so that out mouths are barely an inch apart. Peeta licks his lips, then slowly, presses them against mine. I gasp as something inside me awakens, and he begins to pull away so I grab his face and deepen the kiss.

"Mockingjay-"

" _Peeta_ ," I mimic his tone of voice then turn serious, "I want you"

_Kiss_.

"Please, Peeta?"

_Kiss_.

"Please?"

Peeta remains motionless as I continue kissing him, I pull his bottom lip between my teeth and he comes to life with a groan. His slightly calloused hands make their make through my hair to hold me in place as our tongues dance in their own rhythm. I groan in protest when Peeta breaks our heated kiss, but soon forget why when he begins peppering kisses along my jaw and down my throat, to the sensitive place on my collar bone, making me gasp in pleasure.

"You smell so fucking good," he whispers so close to me that his teeth graze my ear, sending shivers down my spine and causing a wetness to form between my legs.

I bring his lips back to mine and as I kiss him feverishly, I try to think of all the reasons as to why this is a terrible idea. I come up with none. All I can think of is how natural it feels to kiss Peeta Mellark.

His hand travels down to my hip, where he slips it under my vest. Peeta hesitates, looking at me with uncertainty in his eyes, I smile at him and bring his lips back to mine, encouraging him to carry on. So he does, his fingers brush over my already erect nipples and I moan at the contact, feeling him smirk at my reaction. Peeta then kneads my breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and finger, causing me to arch my back.

I squeal when he suddenly wraps his arm around me and sits up, pulling me with him. With me straddling his hips, Peeta lifts my vest, exposing my breasts to him and inhales quickly.

"I-I'm sorry, I know it's not much," I mutter, thankful for the dim lighting as my face turns bright red.

He chuckles, bringing both his hands to other side of my face.

"They are perfect. You are perfect"

Peera kisses me softly and slowly slides his hands down to both my breasts and repeats his earlier ministrations. My skin pebbles as his lips trace their way down to my chest. His mouth caresses my nipple and a high pitch moan escapes my lips as I move on his lap and Peeta's erection rubs on my throbbing. He realises this and moves his hand that was resting on my hip, to between my legs. My shorts are loose enough that he doesn't have to move it aside, only my now ruined underwear.

"Fuck, you're so wet," he says as he spreads the wetness, then makes lazy circles with his thumb on my clit.

The torturous rhythm has me grinding against his hand to add more pressure. Peeta then slips in a finger between my folds and we moan in unison. I throw my head back and absorb all the different ways Peeta is making me feel. Something deep in my abdomen starts to coil as I dig my nails into his shoulder and I know I'm close to my release.

"I want to taste you," he says, lips brushing against mine before I can start my protests.

"O-okay," I stutter without missing a beat.

Just like before, Peeta flips me onto the bed and I land on my back, giggling like a school girl.

"That's officially my third favourite sound," he mumbles, breaking our kiss.

I pull away and raise an eyebrow at him.

"You have favourite sounds?"

"Yup, third, you giggling, second you singing and first your sexy moaning or you begging me to have sex with you. I can't decide..." he smirks, nipping my bottom lip between his teeth.

Blushing, I roll my eyes at his cheesiness but he just chuckle and kisses the tip of my nose. Peppering kisses down my body, Peeta pushes my shorts along with my underwear down my legs and I kick them away. He then lifts my legs over his shoulders and kisses my inner thigh before parting my folds and as he takes one long lick, I mewl incoherent words. My back arches off the bed and my hands grip onto Peeta blonde curls like a vice when he flicks his tongue over my bundle of nerves.

"Oh  _fuck_ ," I breathe, making Peeta chuckle once more and the vibrations from his mouth make my eyes roll into the back of my head.

He continues flicking his tongue over my clit and adds two fingers, pumping quick and hard.

"Oh my god!" I shout as the familiar coil tightens, meaning that my orgasm is right around the corner. " _Oh, oh, oh, Peeta_!"

A high pitch moan escapes my throat as he sucks on my clit and I find my release. Stars form behind my closed eye lids and my bones turn to mush when I come back down from my high. Peeta moves back up my body and licks his lips then brings his fingers to his mouth to suck my arousal.

"So much better than anything I could've imagined," he smirks and I roll my eyes but truthfully, that was one of the hottest things I've ever seen.

He leans down and peppers more kisses along my shoulder but the desperate need to have his mouth pressed against mine is overwhelming so I grab a fistful of his hair and crush my lips against his. When I feel his hardness on my thigh, all I can think about his how much I want Peeta in me, how much I need him to fill me.

"Peeta, please," I breath into his ear. "I want you inside me"

He halts what he's doing and presses his forehead against mine.

"A-are you sure? Because we can stop, we can stop right now. Actually we should stop. I'm more than happy to leave it here. I don't want you to feel like you have-"

I grab his face with my hands and bring him to my lips with a smile.

"Shut up," I giggle, putting a finger to his lips, "I want you, in fact, I  _need_  you and I  _know_  you do too so please, don't make me beg you"

His smile is so bright that I can see all his perfect teeth in the darkness. Peeta reaches over and opens the draw full of condoms, then shuts it just as quick. After ripping it open, and disposing himself of his boxers, he rolls the condom on then looks at me again, still unsure whether to go on or not, despite his clear happiness. I roll my eyes but return his smile from a couple of seconds ago.

With every kiss, every gentle caress and touch, something that I thought had been lost inside of me reawakens, bringing back a sense of serenity and lightness with it, all because of Peeta and now that I've found it again, I'm not ever going to let it go.

Peeta settles between legs, one hand ready to guide himself inside of me and the other holding his weight. He presses his lips against mine and uses the tip of his impressive length to spread the moisture that has once again gathered between my legs.

"Ready?" He asks, lips only centimetres from mine.

With a nod in confirmation from me, he enters me, slowly, stretching me completely. I squeeze my eyes shut as the sharp pain comes when he fills me to the tip.

"Are you okay?" He asks, the pleasure evident in his voice. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No, just keep going," I reply through my teeth.

He pulls out of me then pushes back in and I let out a little squeal. Even though it still aches the feeling around it, is exquisite, him inside of me is exquisite.

"You feel amazing,  _so, so tight,_ " he groans, then he lifts his forehead from it's resting place on mine. "Look at me"

My eyes snap open, doing as he said. His brows knit together and his mouth forms a perfect O as he carries on his rhythmic pace, grunting and breathing heavily. Once again, I feel the orgasm build inside of me and know it won't take long.

" _P-Peeta_... I'm... C-close," I manage to get out between breathes.

"Good," he says with a malicious smile and quickens his pace, moving his hand from my hip to move press on my throbbing clit.

" _Peeta!_ " I scream, as the added attention brings pushes me over the edge, the orgasm exploding inside of me, from head to toe.

"I've wanted you the second I laid my eyes on you, Katniss, you're all I need. All I want," he smiles, then kisses me, riding me to completion with a groan of my name.

He empties himself into the condom, pulsing, then he pulls out of me and takes off the condom with a Cheshire Cat grin. After throwing it away, Peeta lays down beside me and pulls me flush against his chest, still wearing that ridiculously cute smile.

"Now that's what I call a first kiss," he laughs and I laugh along with him, feeling a lightness in my chest and a heaviness in my limbs. "Our last first kiss"

My heart stutters in joy at his words and replica of his smile forms on my lips.

As Peeta's breathing slows and his eyes drop, I know what I have to do tomorrow morning. It's not going to be pretty, but it's what I want, and pretty sure I  _need_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note part 2: I salute every writer who has ever written smut, I finally understand how difficult it is... Kudos for Guns n Roses! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I know this chapter is very short compared to the others but I had to cut it in half or else it would have been a tediously long chapter... So prepare yourselves because the next chapter is going to be pretty packed... *winks*

My eyes flutter open and straight away an ear splitting grin appears on my face. It wasn't a dream, it actually did happen. I had sex with Peeta.

I kiss his chest, right above his beating heart and look up at him. He seems so peaceful, angelic even. His cheeks are a little flushed, his full lips are slightly parted and his blonde curls are a perfect mess. I trace my fingers along the dark lines of his tribal tattoos and blush at all the images from last night that flood my mind. After placing a soft kiss on a sleeping Peeta's lips, I carefully remove his arms from around me and head to the shower.

Once I'm showered, my hair is brushed and my teeth a cleaned, I look for my phone and scroll down until I find the contact I'm looking for. Before I press the little phone icon, I glance over at Peeta and giggle, the guy sleeps like the dead.

The phone rings twice before he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Darius, it's Katniss"

"Katniss! Hey! How are you?"

"I'm good, you?" I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pull on some clothes.

"I'm good, too," he chuckles deeply.

"I was wondering if you would like to grab some coffee?" I ask, my fingers already tugging at the tips of my hair.

"Sure! When?" His excitement breaks my heart.

"How about now? There's that café five minutes from campus, you know where that is?"

"Yeah, meet you there in 20?"

"Okay, see you in 20"

I end the call and make my way to Gale and Madge's bedroom.

"Madge?" I call out after two knocks. "Madge?"

Being the light sleeper she is, I hear her groan and mumble something unintelligible then open the door.

"Did I over sleep?" Her eyes go wide when she see's me ready to head out. Madge Undersea is never late.

"No, I'm going to meet up with Darius for coffee," I explain with a grin on my face.

She visibly deflates, whether it's in relief or disappointed, I don't know. Maybe a bit of both.

"So you're really gonna go for Darius?" Disappointment it is then.

"Actually, no... Last night... Things changed," I bite my lip and try to conceal the damn smile that forms at the memories in my head.

"You two had sex!" Madge shouts and immediately covers her mouth when Gale stirs in his bed. She shuts the door behind her before throwing her arms around me. "I knew you would make the right decision!"

I return her hug but quickly pull away, sticking to the task at hand.

"Yeah but I can't start something with Peeta until I've explained to Darius. I said I'd meet up with him in 20 minutes so I was wondering if you could let me borrow your car?"

"Uh? Yeah!"

Madge practically runs over to her bag and pulls out her car keys then speeds back to me.

"You're the best," I smile at her and walk towards the door, "hey, Madge?"

"What?"

"Could you not tell Peeta what I'm gonna do? I kinda want to surprise him"

"Okay," she holds up he pinky finger and curls it, our code for pinky swears. "Oh and don't worry, I'll make Gale take me to school!"

I run down the stairs and hop into Madge's car, and pull out of the parking lot. I've had my driver's license since I was sixteen, and even had my own car but when I moved I wanted to start fresh and earn my own stuff. So I gave my old car to Prim and have been saving up for a car since summer before college by doing small jobs. Of course, Uncle Haymitch has offered to buy me one, more times than I can count, but he's done so much and sacrificed so much for me and Prim that I feel bad even asking for fifty cents. Another reason as to why I borrowed Madge's car, I'm going to apply for a job at Sae's first.

As soon as I walk into the diner, she greets me with a loving smile.

"Mornin' sweetpea, where's Peeta?"

"Probably still sleeping," I say, taking a seat at the counter.

"Then what can I getcha?"

My fingers are already at the tips of my hair before I even begin speaking.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me out?"

"Hmmm? And how would I do that?" She asks, putting the pot of hot coffee down on the counter.

"By, uh, letting me put in an application for a waitressing job? Here?"

"Can you carry a tray full of plates and cups, take orders and wipe down tables?"

I nod.

"Can you be polite to my costumers?"

"Yes, of course!" I reply eagerly.

"Then, you're hired!" She picks up the pot of coffee again and hurries off to a waiting costumer to fill up their cup.

"Seriously?" I say, shocked at how easy that was.

"Yup, I trust you, child and you know how this diner works, so, you're hired"

"When can I start?" I hop off the counter in excitement and follow her as she pours coffee into another mug.

"Tonight, five till ten, Fridays are always our busiest nights so I'm gonna need all the help I can get," she tells me, after taking an order and writing it down on a tiny notepad.

"Thank you so much, Sae! You won't regret it!" I call as I rush out to meet Darius, not wanting to be late. "See you at five!"

•••

Giving myself one more look in the rear view mirror, I step out of the car and walk over to the café. Through the large glass window of the café, I spot Darius sitting down in at a table holding a cup of coffee in one hand and his tablet in the other.

"Morning," I greet him as I sit down opposite him.

"Hey, Kat," he smiles at me then leans over the table to plant a kiss on my cheek.

"What are you reading?" I resist the urge to play with the tip of my hair as I make small talk, trying stall as much as possible.

"Online newspaper," he sets the tablet down and takes another sip off his coffee. "So, what does freedom taste like?"

"What?"

"Your bet? It's over?"

"Oh yeah," I laugh nervously, "it's liberating"

"I would think so," he chuckles, showing off his perfect dimples and teeth. "How about we celebrate? Tonight, my place?"

"Actually, that's what I'm here to talk about," I sigh, watching as his ever present smile fades. "I can't carry on going out with you"

"Why not?" He asks although he already knows the answer.

"Because, I like someone else"

"Peeta," he says it almost like its a joke.

"I'm sorry," I mumble, looking down at my hands.

He shakes his head and rubs his face with one of his hands.

"I treated you with respect, I saw no one other than you, I took you out to nice places, I gave you nice things yet you choose him?  _Peeta Mellark_?"

"Trust me, I don't know what's wrong with me either"

"He's only going to fuck you then leave you, y'know that? Right?"

My mouth drops at his spiteful tone of voice and my eyes widen at the anger in his eyes. I expected a bad reaction but not this.

"So what? You're suggesting that I ignore how I feel about him and carry on dating you?" I retort, jabbing a finger in his direction.

"No, I'm suggesting that you think about what-" his eyes widen then narrow to slits," did you two fuck?"

"What? No!" I lie and try to keep my cheeks from turning red.

"You two fucked didn't you?" He chuckles sourly.

"What makes that any of your business?"

"What makes it my business is that I thought you weren't one if his little fuck pets," he spits, face enraged with anger.

"I guess we we're both wrong because I didn't think you were a fucking asshole," I retrieve the bracelet he gave me for my birthday and drop it on the table.

"No wait! I'm sorry," Darius reaches out and tries to hold my hand but I pull it away before he has a chance. "Look, Kat, I really like you and I don't want him to hurt you"

"He's not gonna-"

"Hurt you? Are we talking about the same Peeta Mellark? Because I'm talking about the one who treats women like useable toys and is a violent jerk who likes to use Finn as a punching bag"

I open and close my mouth but no sound comes out because he's right, Peeta  _is_  like that.

"Please do not take this the wrong way, but what makes you different from every other girl he's had sex with and kicked out of the apartment the next minute?"

With every word he says, my chest tightens.

"Peeta's a womanising jackass who-"

_Shit_.

The distinct sound of the Harley Davidson stops Darius in mid sentence. I look at of the window and see an enraged Peeta storm towards us. My head falls into my hands a I groan, this is exactly why I didn't want him to come here. He doesn't even acknowledge me as he glares at Darius when he walks into the café.

"Leave, now," Peeta's voice could freeze hell over.

"What did you just say?" Darius, stands and meets Peeta's glare with almost as much intensity.

"I said,  _fucking leave now_ "

Even though Darius is a couple of inches taller than Peeta, he still looks like the underdog. Looking between the two, I know that if this doesn't stop now, fists are going to be flying in a matter of seconds. And everyone knows who's gonna leave as the less damaged one.

"Who the fuck do-"

"Darius, please go," I sigh in defeat and he looks at me in disbelief. "I'm sorry"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Enough of your sanctimonious bullshit," Peeta spits, keeping his fists closed at his side. "Mockingjay told you to go, now fucking go"

"This is fucking unbelievable," Darius grumbles angrily, picking up his stuff including the bracelet then throws some money on the table. "Don't come crying to me when he throws you away like trash"

I put a hand on his chest and push him back when he tries to lunge towards Darius. Peeta runs both hands through his disheveled blonde hair in frustration then looks at me with desperation in his eyes.

"Let him go, Peeta"

"Why didn't you answer my calls or texts?"

"What are you- oh"

Seven messages and fourteen missed calls from Peeta.  _Double shit._

"I-I didn't see it,it must've been on silent. I'm sorry," I mumble, sitting down on the chair.

"You're sorry about what? Huh? About sleeping with me last night? About running off to meet Darius the morning after? Or you're sorry for being like every other girl who just wants to fuck Peeta Mellark. Am I not good enough for you?" He runs his hands through his hair again, this time tugging it forcefully with growl. "I thought you were different, Katniss"

I squeeze my eyes shut trying to hold in my anger and slowly stand up, careful not to snap the thin line of calmness I have created. I will not be treated like this again. No. Fucking. Way.

"Get your damn anger in control then once you've cooled off, we'll talk but right now? I don't need this," I say through my teeth, mostly to myself.

With every step I take towards the car, I start my breathing exercises. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In with the good, out with the bad. I almost make it to the car when Peeta comes bounding after me.

"No! I've had enough of this shit! You can't do this to me! I can't even think straight! You're driving me insane!" He bellows behind me.

I spin on my heels and storm towards him, smacking my fists on his chest.

"You ignorant dick!" I rage at the top of my lungs, scaring away the pedestrians. "You wanna know why I met up with Darius? To tell him that I can't see him anymore! Why? Because I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you! I left this morning without telling you because I knew that this was going to happen! That you were gonna have this jealousy fit and-"

"You love me?"

"What? No!"

"Yes you do, you just said that you did," he smirks, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Are you sure that I'm not just like every other girl who  _just wants to fuck Peeta Mellark?_ " I throw his words back in his face and he visibly cringes.

"Shit, Mockingjay-"

"Don't you 'Mockingjay' me, Peeta! You're a fucking mess and I can't handle it! I have enough problems on my own!" I push him away and open the car door but he slams it shut again. "What the hell!?"

"I was right, I'm not good enough for you," Peeta traps me, with both hands pressed against the window, either side of my face. "I'm an angry person, with these demons deep inside of me that torment me every second of every day and you're caring, smart and the most amazing person I know. But, I'm not as naive as everyone else, I know you have some deep shit inside of you too and sometimes it's hard to tell whether you hate me or want me. And yeah, maybe Gale  _is_  right, we are a recipe for disaster but, fuck, Katniss. I love you. I have ever since I stained your t-shirt with blood"

"No. I can't Peeta, I'm sorry but I can't do-"

He silences my words by pressing his lips against mine. I react immediately by threading my hands through his hair. He sucks in my bottom lip between his and worries it between his teeth before tracing it with his tongue. I eagerly open my mouth and grant him entrance to deepen the kiss. With every stroke and every suck, my insides turn into mush and all concerns and thoughts leave my head as I concentrate on the exquisite feel of his mouth against mine.

"Peeta!" I breathe, reluctantly pulling away from him and missing his warmth already. Whatever strength I have that let me do that, I need to hold onto it with all my strength.

"Please, Mockingjay, let me show you that I'm no longer the Peeta you met a month and a half ago. I've changed,  _you_  changed me. Now let me prove it, please?"

"Peeta-"

"Please? Allow me? Please Katniss," he holds my face between his hands, his sky blue gaze penetrating through all my defensive walls and any resistance or doubts I had vanish, leaving me numb and exposed.

"O-okay, then," I say, no longer in control of my actions or words.

"You'll allow it?" He asks, centimetres from my lips.

"Yes, I'll allow it," I breathe, anticipating the moment that his lips will touch mine. However, when they do, the kiss isn't deep and soul consuming, it's a soft, quick kiss, like sealing a deal.

"So does this mean you're my girlfriend now?" He chuckles, pressing his forehead to mine.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Rabid Mutt," I laugh, pushing him away playfully but he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against him.

"Okay then, how about a date? Are you hungry?" He rolls his eyes at his own question the smirks at me, "who am I kidding? You're always hungry. Meet you at Sae's"

He kisses my head then strides off to his bike, where he kicks it alive then winks at me before speeding off.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated! Yay! Sorry it took soo long but to compensate, the chapter is pretty huge too;) Oh, plus you won't have to endure my silly mistakes and grammar anymore because the story now has Everlarkcheesebuns, an awesome beta AND writer! Check out her fic, Something's Gotta Give. Okay, no more talk, here's the chapter...

Never in my life would I think that the smell of oil and coffee would make me feel at home, but then again never in my life would I think that I would ever feel this happy again, sitting at a diner on a breakfast date laughing at someone's lame jokes.

I smile up at Peeta after popping a strawberry in my mouth andmemorise every perfection and imperfection on his face as he chats away about some wrestling match he watched on TV.

His blonde curls have grown to fall over his eyes, so he always has to run hand through them to push them back, only for the curls to fall right back into place. A small scar forms above his left brow when he lifts them, and light freckles lick his nose and cheeks. My eyes trail the squareness of his jaw, then the perfect fullness of his lips.

A familiar throbbing begins at the apex of my thighs as I imagine running my tongue along the outline of his jaw. The down the length of his body to his full, erect-

"Mockingjay?" Peeta laughs as I shake myself from my not so innocent daydreaming.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" I ask trying to focus on his words and not his gorgeous body that is now, sort of, in a way, mine.

"You first; you looked like you have a lot on your mind,"

"It's just that Sae got me a job here, and I'm pretty nervous about it,"

"Why'd you get a job?"

"Extra money, plus I can't buy are car with just the money I make on your fights,"

"I know you'll say no but if you want I can lend you money and you can- okay maybe not," he chuckles after I scowl furiously at him. I won't even accept money from my own family, and he expects me to take his?

"Okay, now I want to know what's gotten you all red and squirming," he teases, placing both fists under his chin.

"I'm not red and squirming," I lie, fully aware that I am and he laughs, a deep throaty laugh.

"Want to try and lie better?"

I roll my eyes ,but decide to play his game. I stand up from my side of the booth and sit at his side, then I run my hand up his leg, just far enough to tease but not enough to please him. Leaning down, I run my tongue along the outline of his jaw, just like I imagined, and Peeta stifles a groan and hardens instantly at my touch.

"I was thinking about doing that," I murmur seductively in his ear, my teeth grazing his lobe. "And other things, that would be very frowned upon if I did them in public,"

"Do you have any idea the effect your words have on me?"

Peeta twists his body and holds my face in between his hands, running his thumbs over my cheeks then crushes his lips against mine, stealing all the air from my lungs. Peeta stops our kiss and I glance up at his and see that his brows are knitted together, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" I ask, making tiny circles with my thumb on the back of his hand.

He licks his lips and looks straight into my eyes, holding me in place with just his cool gaze.

"What made you change your mind? About me and you?" He says carefully as if any sudden movement or word could make me run for the hills.

I shrug, tugging the end of my braid.

"I'm not very good at explaining how I feel, but..." I take a deep breath. "All my life, I-I've always tried to piece together the broken parts of my family ever since my father died and along the way I guess a lost a piece of myself. But when I'm with you, it feels like it wasn't lost or missing, it was just sleeping, waiting for you. Yeah, I know it's not exactly the best explanation but-"

My rambling is silenced when Peeta kisses me, holding my face in his hands. Then he presses his lips on my forehead lovingly andsmiles.

"Everything is a lot less shittier when we're around each other," he murmurs.

I chuckle, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Plus, the sex isn't all that bad,"

He raises his brow and smirks, just the way that I love. I have to restrain myself to not jump him right here and now. Peeta is about to say something when he is cut of by the ringing of his phone.

"Gale, dude, I'm not doing that. The guys are gonna have to find someone else... I don't care if they voted, tell them to vote again... No... I'm not-..." he snorts and I can feel him rolling his eyes, a nasty habit that he learned from me. "Low blow man, but fine, whatever, if you can get Mockingjay to agree to that shit, I'll do it"

"Do what?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"Wait, let me put him on speaker," the screen on his phone lights up and he presses the speaker icon. "You can start grovelling now, Gale,"

"Shut up, Peet," Gale says, to his cousin mockingly, "You know about the couples party at Delta Tau? Right Katniss? The one Peet said he'd take you to?"

I hum in acknowledgement and he carries on.

"Well, last night we had a meeting and the guys all decided that it would be best to have it this weekend, tomorrow night to finish off Greek Week-"

"Greek Week?" I look up at Peeta and he just shrugs.

"Yeah a series of games that each frat and sorority houses takes part in? One of Peeta's fights this week was part of it,"

"Peeta didn't tell me about that," I scowl at him but he just grins and goes back to playing with my hair.

"Of course he didn't. Anyway, last night the guys also decided that since Halloween is on the same day, we should do a haunted house theme and but since it's Greek week and we're Greekfraternity there has to be two Greek guys at the doors to greet everyone and guess who made the cut?"

"No way!" I laugh, slapping Peeta on the arm playfully. "Wait, but you said two guys? Who's the other?"

"That's the funny part, Finnick is the guy. I guess they said as punishment for being dicks the two of them have to do this plus frat brothers are supposed to be like brother and all that shit"

"Hmm, that does sound like a good idea," I mutter, feeling Peeta's gaze bore into the side of my head but why wouldn't it be? It would give Peeta and Finnick to bond, I hope, and I get to see him dressed in a Greek god outfit. It's a win-win situation.

"Oh, but there is a catch!" Peeta chuckles, going back to playing with my hair.

"What catch?" I ask slowly, scowling at Peeta's shit-eating grin.

"It's still a couple's costume, Katniss," I hear Madge from the other end of the phone, talking to me as if I'm an oblivious child. "Therefore you need to wear couples costumes. What Peeta wears, you have to match,"

"No," I said flatly. There is no way I'm wearing a robe or whatever the hell it is. On Peeta it would look beyond hot but on me, I'd be lucky if I manage to pull out a decent.

"Ah-ha! But you already said you were going! You've given yourword," Madge gets closer to the phone then slyly adds, "And you know that once you say something you can't go back on it"

I grit my teeth and close my eyes. She's right, if there is one thing I do is keep my word, one of the reasons why I went through withPeeta's bet. Not that I regret it.

"But it's tomorrow and tonight I can't go out so-"

"So nothing, I knew you'd say that, that's why I bought it for you just five minutes ago. You can thank me later. Now gotta go, see ya, toddles!"

She hangs up the phone without waiting for a reply and I huff out in irritation. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even friends with this woman, then I remember what she's helped me through.

...

Plates and cutlery clash as I bust around partons, dodging them as they push out their chair or walk towards me. A couple of fries fall from the plate when a college student stands and I dodge around them. With a huff of frustration I set down the table's orders in front of them on the table.

"So that's french fries, two cheese burgers, one without onion, and a vanilla shake?" I ask, pointing at the meals.

"Uhh, where's my salad?" A whinny, nasal female asks, her nose so high it looks like she's trying to sniff something out.

"I can't remember you asking for it..." I mumble, reaching inside my apron and pulling out my notepad and shit, she did order it. "I'm sorry it's-"

"Right here," Annie says sweetly, placing the girl's salad on the table.

"Dressing on the side, onions sliced thinly and absolutly no spinach?"

"Of course," is all Annie replies with a kind smile whereas I would've flipped her the finger with the way she talked all high and mighty.

"Thanks," I smile, my shoulders sagging as we walk away. Sae was right, tonight was busy, orders were flying all over the place and more than few rowdy and high maintance patrons to deal with and we still have two hours left until we close for the night.

"It's okay, I got your back newbie," Annie giggles and pulls her high ponytail tighter. "It gets easier to deal with nasty costumers as time goes on and Fridays are our most packed nights so tomorrow it will be a whole lot calmer"

"Thank god,"

We both laugh and go to tend the other tables waiting on their orders.

Annie is Sae's great-niece. She's got a petite figure like me and big green eyes with long wavy bronze hair, framing her tan pixie like face. From the little time I've spent with her tonight, I've already learnt to like her sweet and kind personality. It's a nice change from all of my loud, fiery friends.

"Isn't he just the sweetest guy you've ever met?" Annie gushes like a sixteen year old, eyeing her first crush. I follow her line of sight and scowl once I see who she's crushing over.

"He's bad news, Annie, you can do better,"

"Better than Finnick Odair is impossible," she sighs, smilling to herself and I roll my eyes.

"He's a jerk and a player who's slept with more than half of the girls on campus,"

"Katniss, no offense," she says slowly, biting her lip. "But isn't Peeta Mellark like that?"

"He was like that but he's changed," I mutter, knowing where she's going with this and not liking it t all. Is Peeta in a way, like Finnick?

"Exactly, and so has Finn, he even asked me to be his date to the couples party at the Delta Tau House, which totally means we're officially in the girlfriend/boyfriend realm," she blushes, again like an innocent school girl placing her hands on either side of her face.

"You're crazy," I mutter, wiping down a table after the costumers leave.

"If I am then so are you!" she sing songs, then stops and looks wide eyed at me. "Oh crap! I still haven't bought my costume for the party!"

"Peeta is going dressed the same as Finnick and my friend picked out my costume, if you want I can ask her to get you one too?"

"You'd do that? Really?"

"Yeah, sure, let's say I'd be paying you back for saving my ass from that nasal bitch earlier on,"

I pull out my phone and tap a quick text to Madge.

Katniss: Hey Madge, my friend needs a costume just like mine for the party tomorrow night. Think you can get her one? She's my size.

I receive a reply almost immediately.

Madge: Sure, I'll get it tomorrow morning:)

Katniss: Thanks

"She said its all good and that she'll get it for you tomorrow,"

"Thank you so much, Katniss," she hugs me and I stiffen, not sed to my friends showing such affection towards me the I relax and hug her back. "Okay, now let me kick some butts out of here so we can close this damn diner already!"

…

By pure luck, I get the morning shift at the diner the next day. I reluctantly untangle myself from Peeta and his warmth, and drag myself out of the apartment. Annie drives me to the diner so I don't have up wake anyone in the house. The morning goes by uneventful, we mostly get families and a few workers come in for breakfast. I spend most of my time cleaning sauce bottles and wiping down tables, occasionally getting an order or two.

At noon, Madge arrives with Annie's costume along with Gale and Peeta. They have brunch and wait around for my shift to finish, making everything much nosier but so much more enjoyable. I hang up my apron and say goodbye to Sae when the clock strikes two, jumping on the back of Peeta's Harley and speeding off to the apartment.

Once we get there, Peeta doesn't give me a change to even breathe before he's shoving books in my face and noting down important facts. After what seems like a lifetime of whining, he finally lets me off the hook and I hop straight into the shower, locking the door behind me to make sure Peeta doesn't try to sneak in with me. I would love nothing more than to have him in here with me, but I stink of syrup and coffee, and I am feeling anything but sexy at the moment. With a towel wrapped around my body and one around my hair, I step out of the bathroom and am immediatelyassaulted by Peeta's soft kisses.

"Damn, you smell so good," he purrs against my skin, trying to tug the towel away from my body.

"Thank you, but I'd like to be appreciated from afar," I laugh, pushing at his chest.

"Mockingjay, I had to wake up without you in my bed, I need to feel you, now"

"I know, but later, I promise"

With a cheeky wink, I walk around him and pull out something else I asked Madge to get that morning, which made my skin nearly catch fire but the look on Peeta's face is totally worth it. I drop the towel so it pools at my feet and slip on the very white, lacy and see through lingerie and watch as his eyes cloud over with lust.

"Shit," he utters in a breath. "I don't think I can wait until tonight with what you're wearing right now"

"Well you're gonna have to, Rabid Mutt," I tease, unwrapping the towel from my hair. "We all need to get ready and Thom specifically asked m to make sure you're there on time."

"Is this what girlfriends do? Because if it is I'd like a refund," he mopes jokingly, flopping on the bed.

I grab one of my flats from the floor and chuck it at him.

"Refund my ass! But your ass? You can drag it in to the shower."

"Yes, mom."

Peeta sluggishly stands from the bed and trails to the bathroom but pops his head around the door only seconds later.

"Tonight, you better be ready"

Rolling my eyes, I blush. I've been ready since I woke up to him beside me this morning.

I pull costume over my head; it's a white sleeveless dress with a gold band that encircles my waist. A cape shaped like material is sown onto the back of the dress that goes down to just above the hem line that flows at mid thigh length. Both corners of the cape are clipped at either wrist with golden bracelets, making it look like I have wings when I lift my arms. The whole thing is topped off with a golden Laurel Wreath, an intricate gold band that I push up past my elbow and brown knee high gladiator sandals. My hair is in a simple wide side braid and a couple loose curled locks of hair, and I keep my makeup to a minimum, with just a couple flicks of mascara and gloss.

I stand in from of the mirror and smile at myself. Not too bad Everdeen. Well, most of the credit does go to Madge for having an eye for beautiful things and Google for showing me how theseGreek Goddess were supposed to look like.

"What have I done to deserve you, Aphrodite?' Peeta nibbles my ear circling his arms around my waist.

"You look pretty dashing too, Adonis."

I turn in his arms and tug at the blue and gold sash, Delta Taucolors that hang from one shoulder to the other hip, kept together by a golden string. Straightening his Laurel Wreath, I step back and look at both of us in the mirror and laugh. He does sort of look like Adonis and I could pull an Aphrodite with him at my side...

"Peet! Don't forget you have to be there earlier than everyone else tonight!" Gale reminds him from the other side of the door.

After one last long kiss, we weave our hands together and walk out into the living room. As soon as Peeta sees Gale in his costume, he throws his head back and starts laughing until he can't breathe.

"Holy fuck!" He guffaws, wiping the tears from so much laughter. "I knew you guys were into some kinky shit but... Holy fuck!"

Madge's costume is Goldilocks and poor Gale is one of the bears. Whereas Madge looks hot in her puffy, short white and blue dress, bright red lips and golden curls, Gale looks hilarious shirtless with a fur overalls, bear paws and cute bear ears. No wonder Peeta is red and wheezing from laughing so much, I'm having a hard time controlling myself.

"Peeta, dude, you're in a dress and sandals," Gale sneers, wiping the smirk clean off his cousin's face.

"You both look adorable together," I compliment mainly Madge as she twirls for me.

"And aren't you two the Greek power couple," Madge winks then links her arm through mine. "When you two have finished with your bickering, you can meet us girls in the car"

When arrive at the House and both Peeta and I, for some reason, are whisked away by Thom who looks giddy in his G.I Joe getup. He tells Peeta what he has to do, which mainly consists of greeting guests by the door and allowing people who are in sorority/frat brothers and their dates in only. Surprisingly, he also has a job for me.

"Maybe you haven't heard because you've just entered PU but Delta Tau is known for their awesome parties and the last one just didn't live up to its expectation. However, the last awesome party I went to was your birthday party," Thom struts over to the kitchen and I follow him, looking around at all the Halloween decorations;spider webs, skulls, fake blood, even a cauldron with dry ice. "And you must be thinking why, Thom? And I'll answer you, Katniss. Because you were the girl on fire with them drinks! Tippin' em back like there was no tomorrow!"

"You know you could've just asked me to get people drunk and I would've said yes," I smirk, taking a shot already set out on the kitchen island. "Without the whole speech."

"You're sounding more and more like Peeta every damn day," he mutters and I laugh, he then tries to leave but I step in his way with my eyebrows raised.

"Where are you going?"

"To set up the bear pong tournament? It's the last Greek Game"

"Not before this," I hold up some fancy looking multi-coloured shot and place it in his hand. "Now chug it, Jock"

He swallows the liquid and makes a face as it burns down his throat, then places the tiny cup back on the counter. Thom winks at me and adjusts his costume before strutting off shouting about getting the party started.

I pull out my phone from the small purse I brought with me and send a quick text to Peeta, who is already outside with Finnick.

Katniss: Made peace with Poseidon yet, Zeus?

With a clip, clop of her heels, Madge makes her way over to me with a bunch of trays pilled on top of each other. She sets them on the kitchen island with a sigh, then grabs a beer from the fridge.

"The guys said to load the shots on the trays," she groans, taking another chug of her beer.

"The guys are asses," I mutter earning a laugh from Madge, who is now taking photos of everyone and everything. She then trots over to me and flips the phone onto the front camera, singing "selfie"before taking a snapshot of us. "I cannot believe you just did that"

"It's like mandatory now to sing selfie when you take a selfie."

"Jesus Christ," I chuckle, placing the shots on a tray, then picking it up. "Are you going to take selfies all night or actually get some people drunk?"

A new message alert begins in my phone and I pull it out to see that Peeta has replied to my text.

Peeta: Yes my Hera. We are currently making lighting storms over the Pacific Ocean.

Peeta: And don't get too drunk, Mockingjay, we still have that thing you promised tonight.

Katniss: Oh don't you worry your pretty little head;)

The music gets turned up as the students start to arrive and Madge and me begin our mission. We hand out drinks to everyone that sets foot in the House and have a couple ourselves, although not exceeding the limit as to get drunk. Once the party is in full swing, Madge decides to do body shots. We call over Finnick, who normally would jump at the chance but declines, shaking his head and wrapping his arm tighter around a stunned Annie. Luckily, one of his teammates of the football team, steps up to take his place. After that and a few more games of seeing who can down the most alcoholic beverages in thirty seconds, everyone is pretty much wasted. Madge and I give ourselves a pat on the back and a high five and go to find our guys.

We spot Gale almost immediately, he's standing at on end of the beer pong table with the ball is in hand, totally in the zone. He takes the shot and the ball bounces on the table and lands directly in the other guys cup causing everyone to erupt in cheers and choruses of "chug" as the guy drinks his beer. Madge saunters over to her boyfriend who was beginning to get surrounded by slutty cops, nurses and pirates then places very long and very noise kiss on him lips, claiming him as her own. I laugh as I watch the girls walk off muttering obscenities about my best friend.

I leave the two at the beer pong and venture out to find Peeta, running into Jo, who looks amazing in a Red Riding Hood outfit. However, instead of carrying a basket full of cakes, she carries what I hope is a false axe. We talk for a bit, well she talks about all her potential hook ups and I agree or disagree, then a guy dressed as a Huntsman comes and whisks he away onto the dance floor, leaving me once again, alone and looking for Peeta.

I finally find him, standing with no one other than Delly. The girl from the hob that was all over Peeta. The one with the glamour model curves, lips and hair that is now wearing a playboy bunny costume and clearly trying to get into my boyfriends pants. That Delly. Images of the two of them grinding onto each other thatnight infiltrate my mind and this unknown anger and possessiveness overtakes me.

Giving myself a once over, I walk up to the both of them with fake confidence.

"I've been looking for you," I stand on the tip of my toes and kiss him deeply, wrapping my arms around his neck, then after a good while, I turn and smile at Delly. "Hey, nice to see you again,"

"You too, Katniss," her eyes flicker over my outfit then to Peeta's and they widen slightly with shock. "You two came to the couple's party together?"

"Yup," Peeta tells her, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go dance with my girlfriend. See you round, Del"

"Yeah, sure, see ya, Peet," she mutters, still in shock and watches as Peeta walks away with me.

The music thumps loud and I try to let go and enjoy myself but I still can't get over how comfortable Peeta was being around Delly. He's never like that with any other girl but me and for some reason that hits me hard in the stomach. Peeta notices my souring mood and stops dancing, to look right at me.

"You're scowling, why?"

"What? No I'm not,"

Peeta rolls his eyes, smirking.

"Is it because of Delly?"

"What? Definitely no," I lie through my teeth, pretending to be busy fixing my dress.

"Bullshit, Mockingjay, why don't you like her?"

"I dunno, Peeta, maybe because last time I saw the two of you together you were basically dry humping and swapping saliva," I blurt out, surprising myself with how honest I am with him.

"So basically, your jealous?" He holds his hands up before I can object. "If it makes you feel better, I have known Delly since I was a kid, she's like a sister to me... A sister that I occasionally had sex with,"

"Oh yeah, that makes it a whole lot better, Peeta"

Chuckling, he pulls me into his arms and nibbles my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine.

"I only have eyes for you, my little Mockingjay," Peeta whispers in my ear, then moves his lips to mine and kisses me sweetly. His hand travels up my dress, cupping my ass and I gasp.

"Peeta! We're in public, at a party!"

"Okay, so lets go home then."

"Just a couple more songs and we'll go"

And after those couple more songs, I look around the House, everyone seems to be having a good time, I've spoken to the majority of my friends and had a couple drinks then danced. I guess it's acceptable to leave now. As if right on cue, Madge appears near me with a very drunk and unstable Gale beside her.

"How much did you guys drink?" She asks, looking at the empty cup in Peeta's hand.

"Only like two or three cups of beer, why?" Peeta replies, prying a beer out of Gale's hand.

"Because Gale is completely over his limit after winning the beer pong and having a "couple" of victory drinks"

"Baby, I'm fine!" Gale slurs, trying to kiss his girlfriend but with one small nudge from her, the six foot something guy nearly falls over.

"Of course you are Gale Bear," she coos him trying to keep him up right and Peeta goes straight to help her.

We finally gather our things and manage to get Gale into his truck after much pleading and pushing. We stop a couple of times for him to colour the floor with his contents but make it home in one piece. Peeta helps heave the man bear up the stairs and into his room and leaves the rest to Madge.

As soon as we walk into his room, he kicks the door shut to instantly press me against it. His hands roam all over my body, caressing and squeezing in all the right places earning soft sighs and high pitch moans from me. I place my hands on his hips and pull them closer to me, feeling how hard he is for me and only me. My finger nails dig into his hips as his lips capture mine,inducting a new kind of love that I've never in my life felt.

I untie the golden string that holds is outfit together and bunch the white cloth in my hands, pulling it off his body, desperate to feel his skin under my hands and throw it in some direcion. With one hand, Peeta cups my ass, his fingers digging into me in the most delicious way and with the other he holds the back of my thigh, lifting it around his waist. He pushes his hips into me and I gasp when his cock presses just right in my desired spot.

"I want you so bad," he growls in my ear, and I take off the golden bracelets holding my cape in place so he can lift the dress over my head along with my bra.

His hand leaves my ass and copies the other, lifting my other thigh to his waist. Wrapping my arms and legs around him, I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, and kiss him with all my want. Peeta's hands fly to my breasts after he sets me down on his desk and he begins his merciless actions making the wetness in my legs pool, probably ruining my panties forever. Not that I care.

Lowering his lips, Peeta lavishes my nipple with his tongue and tweaks the other with his fingers. I run my hands through his hair and arch my back, to give him more access. I snake a hand between our bodies and into my drenched panties, in search of the bundle of nerves that pulses with want but as soon as he realises what I'm doing, Peeta pulls my hands above my head, restraining them.

"No," I groan as my throbbing clit gets unbearable.

"You made me wait, now you're going to wait," He murmurs against my breast and I nod frantically, praying for him to give me release I so need. "I want to hear you, Mockingjay, I want to hear you beg"

"Please, Peeta," the words escape my lips before I even have a change to process them. "Please"

"Come on, Mockingjay, you can do better," Peeta smirks then twists my nipple making me scream in pleasure. "Do you want this or not?"

"Please Peeta! I can't- I can't take it anymore!" I beg, not the tiniest bit ashamed. "Peeta, please"

"I fucking love it when you say that"

He pushes my panties down my legs and runs a finger between my thick folds, spreading the moisture.

"Oh god, you're so wet," he exhales before pushing my legs apart and kneeling between them.

I lay my back on his desk and feel Peeta pepper kisses on the inside of my thigh. Parting my folds with his thumbs, he flicks my clit with his tongue and my legs spasm at the simple action.

"Peeta! Oh! Please!" I scream, wanting more, wanting my release.

He chuckles and pushes two fingers inside of me, curling them and hitting just the right spot.

"You want this?" He murmurs, the vibrations doing wonders to me. "Or this?"

A wave of pleasure hits me dead centre when Peeta sucks the thumping bundle of nerves and a feral scream escapes my mouth.

"Oh, fuck, yes! Both! I want both!" My hands find their place in his hair and pull him closer to my centre, urging him on.

With another chuckle, his fingers go back to work, pushing me closer and closer over the edge and when his mouth comes into action, my eyes roll into the back of my head. With his expertise flicking, sucking and nibbling, soon my back is arched off the island as I come hard with a guttural moan.

I lay panting and sweating, still riding on the aftershocks of my orgasm when Peeta lifts me with one hand under my knees and another behind my back and carries me into his bedroom.

"You think I'm done with you?" He smirks, dropping me on the bed and making me squeal.

"I hope not, because I know there are things that I want to do with you," I murmur, sitting up and hooking my fingers into the waist band of his boxers to pull him closer.

Very slowly, I run my index finger along the prominent bulge and Peeta shivers at my touch. I push down his underwear and let them pool at his ankles. Allowing his hardness to spring free, my eyes widen at his impressive, thick length. I guess I mustn't had been paying attention that night because I cannot remember it being this big.

Without further anticipation, I wrap my hand around his cock and begin pumping, slowly. Peeta gasps, clenching his fists at his sides, unsure what to with them. Then, with determination, I trace the length of his dick with my tongue, from base to tip, covering it in moisture to finally take him in my mouth. I swirl my tongue over his tip, tasting his salty precum.

"Fuck, Mockingjay, your mouth feels so good," Peeta groans, finally weaving his fingers through my hair.

"Mmhhm," I moan onto his dick and Peeta trembles at the vibration.

I start bobbing my head up and down, taking as much as him as Ipossibly can and with what I can't I let my hand pump. Peeta grunts, jerking his hips forward and I push him away, holding him in place so that his length doesn't hit the back of my throat again.

"I'm gonna come," he pants, holding my head still but I carry on sucking, hollowing my cheeks and swirling my tongue over his tip. "No, stop"

I pull back with a pop when my mouth leaves his hot cock and scowl at him, his rejection and request for me to stop hurting me.

"Isn't that the point? For you to come? Or wasn't that good?"

Smirking, he leans down to kiss me.

"Yes, that is the point, and no it wasn't good. It was fucking amazing, but I want to come inside you," Peeta pulls me up and grabs me around the waist then flings me on the bed as if I weigh nothing more than a sack of flour. "Inside your soaking pussy"

My heart jumps at his dirty words and my arms snake around his neck, pulling him down to claim him with my mouth. But just as quick, I break our kiss and a blush spread across my face. There's something I need to ask him before we do anything, something that I have to be sure of.

"Peeta? I-I know you always use protection and I know that usually keeps you safe from things but I need to make sure, that y'know, I'm safe if we-"

"I'm clean, Mockingjay," he chuckles, sitting back and pulling his bedside table draw open. "See?"

He holds up a letter in his hand and as soon as I see the clinic stamp on the top right corner, I know what it's about.

"When?"

"About three weeks ago, I just wanted to make sure that if anything did happen between us, not that I expect anything, that you would be safe from, well, the consequences of my bad habits," Peeta chuckles and places the letter back inside the drawer and pulls out a condom.

"Well aren't you the thoughtful one?" I giggle, pushing his hair back so I can look into the deep blue of his eyes that has been consumed by the pure back of his pupils, feeling smug at his precaution.

"I have my moments," he grins, kissing the tip of my nose. Peetarips the packet open and slides the protection over his dick in one swift movement the settles between my legs.

"If it hurts, you tell me straight away," He says with a certain authority in his voice, making me even wetter as I nod eagerly.

He drags his tip along the inside of my sex, using my moisture the pushes into me with carefulness and it's like I'm whole again. It hasn't even been twenty four hours but, oh how I've missed him inside me. Peeta's slow thrust are the fuel to the fire that burns inside of me but I want more, I need him deeper.

I roll us over so that I'm straddling his hips and he's laying on the bed. He places his hands on my hips and smiles at me, encouraging me to go on. I experiment lifting my hips up and down and find that in this position, he is so much deeper inside of me and the feeling is overwhelming. I moan and grunt when Peeta meets my movements with perfectly executed thrusts. Sitting up so that our faces are almost touching, he holds my face in his hands and kisses me with fiery passion that I've never experienced before. My fingers dig into his shoulder blades and drag them over his toned biceps.

"You're so perfect, Mockingjay," he whispers between hushes kisses. "So perfect and mine"

With that last word, Peeta lays me back down and brings his fingers to my centre, spurring me to my climax. His thrusts become harsh and deep, generating sweet moans of pleasure from my core and along with his skilled finger work, I am soon gasping for air when my orgasm hits me hard, turning bones into mush. However, Peeta continues his relentless pounding, awakening me from my post-orgasm daze and my hips meet his automatically, even through my fatigue.

"Let go, Peeta, come inside me," I murmur, breathless and sweaty.

"No," he grunts, slamming into me even harder then bringing his lips once again to my erect nipple.

I squeeze my eyes shut as all the different sensations overwhelm me; the thrusting, the precise attention to my swollen centre, his mouth on my breasts. Sure enough, I can feel the coil in my abdomen and my legs going stiff as my third orgasm approaches.

"I'm going to- ahh!" I squeal, feeling tremors run through my body when my climax comes unexpectedly and not soon after that, with one final groan, Peeta finds his release. The both of us pulsing and panting around each other, feeling the after effects ofour love making.

Peeta pulls out of me then throws the used condom in the trash. He comes back instantly and rolls us again, so that I'm laying on top of him. His hands trace my back, tickling me and sending a grin to my face. A calm and happiness blooms in my chest and in that moment I feel so loved, so open that the words start spilling from my mouth before I even realize.

"My dad used to tell me that he could be in a room full of people, in a crowd full of thousands but when he would see my mother, everyone would just vanish and it would feel like it was just the two of them in the whole universe," I whisper, snuggling closer to Peeta's chest as he pulls the sheets around us. "My mother used to say the same thing, she'd tell me how she loved him more than anything in this world and since I was so young, I didn't think too much about it"

I take a deep breath as I acknowledge what I'm about to do. This is the first time I've ever spoken to any one other than my family and therapist about my past.

"So when one day when one of his friends from the fire brigade came to our home and told us that my daddy was in a building that exploded into ashes, you could understand what it did to her. I was only ten and Prim was seven but we understood that it was hard for her, because it was hard for us. But after a year, when your mom continues to miss work and just remain frozen, staring at nothing and you haven't ate properly in a while, the comprehension you had soon vanishes and you have to grow up pretty fast."

A couple of tears escape from my eyes but Peeta only holds my tighter, knowing that I'm not finished yet.

"So, one day after school, I took my little sister's hand in mine and walked over to my Uncle Haymitch's house, where I stood, dirty and famished, asking for his help." I smile at the memory, I can still remember his shook and the alcohol wafting from his breath. "He took me and Prim in at once, sobering up enough to raise us as his own kids. Uncle Haymitch is a very wealthy man, so we had were pretty spoiled, I even had Madge Undersee as my best friend. I had everything but a mother. So we tried to help her, sending her food, cleaning the house, even got her a doctor, Dr Aurelius. He managed to nurse my mother back into living and not just existing. Of course, mother refused to move out of her house but she visited us and had dinner with us and even went to Prims ballet recitals, she did have some moments where she would stare blankly at the wall but even then, I thought everything was going to be okay."

Now that I've let a couple of tears fall, I can't stop ther others now streaming down my face.

"I was never so wrong in my life. She began acting weird, always asking me for money. Then she started to bring all these different men home, to my father's home but again, I was young and stupid, I didn't think too much about it," I spit through my teeth, mentally berating myself. "As I grew older, I understood why my mother was acting so weird, she was a drug addict. So again, me and my Uncle Haymitch tried to help her, but she just wouldn't let us, no matter how many times I pleaded or shouted, she just didn't care anymore. Lilian was just a shell of herself.

"I eventually grew tired of trying to help her and gave up but not my Uncle, well not until she tried to steal from him after she blew the allowance he gave her monthly on drugs and alcohol. That was also the day that my mother hit me, I kicked her out of the house and out of my life and swore that if I ever saw her again, I would make it my life's mission to get her locked up. Since then I haven't seen or heard from her once," I chuckle humorlessly and look up at Peeta. "And now you know my life story and why I'm so damaged."

I go to laugh again but this time it doesn't work. Instead I sob, I sob and I sob until the tears that I've been holding back for eight years came back in an untameable force, turning my sobbing into wailing.

Peeta holds me, kissing my hair and catching my tears as I continue to cry for what seems like a good ten minutes. Once, I'mout of tears, Peeta lifts me and takes me to his shower, turning it on over the both of us. He washes me, placing soft kisses on my shoulder, nose and forehead but never taking it further. Then wraps a towel around my body and another around his waist. I remain numb as he pulls one of his shirts over my head, the lays me on the bed after pulling on a pair of boxers.

He kisses me once more, this time on my lips and the numbness leaves my body, like a weight off my shoulders. Peeta's strong arms pull me closer to him and protect me from the world as I begin to swim through the realms of unconsciousness.

"Don't ever leave me," I mumble, barely able to keep my eyes open.

"I will always be here as long as you want me. Always."


End file.
